Pedersen wins after monster ride in Provence, Bennett slips up | Video

Mads Pedersen's performance today was simply awesome and though Sam Bennett did not contest the finish, he climbed quite well in the final

Mads Pedersen (Lidl Trek) has notched up another victory today at Tour de la Provence after an incredible performance that saw him take on the work of a whole team, splitting the race and still dominating at the finish.

For Ireland's Sam Bennett. it was a question of 'what might have been' after the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider made it over the last climb - the 6.6km Col de l'Aire dei Masco - in the 20-strong remains of the peloton but then missed out.

Pedersen went for the time bonus sprint with just over 20km to go, after the last climb and descent were completed. And after he passed the sprint line, the race leader kept going. He pulled clear in pursuit of lone leader, Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), who was almost one minute clear and was a real threat to Pedersen's race lead.

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In torrential rain, once Pedersen got away from the group a number of riders sensed the danger and managed to get across to him. Those attacks formed an eight-man group that gradually pulled clear of the others in the remains of the main field, including Bennett and several of his team mates.

From that point, Pedersen stepped up to take on much of the workload in pursuit of Frigo and continued to pound away on the front of the group. At times he pulled clear solo by a few seconds when the riders he was with simply could not hold him.

In the end, Pedersen's monster performance saw Frigo caught with just 500m to go, as the road kicked up to the finish line in Manosque after 165km of racing.

And though he had dragged the group along for more than 20km, Pedersen still had the legs to win the stage; his third in a row and his fifth victory of the season already.

Today's effort by the former world champion was one that displayed the extent of his superiority over the rest of the field. Not only did he split the remains of the peloton to pieces in the final, he had also covered the repeated attacks of Arkéa-B&B Hotels on the final climb.

For his part, once Bennett and some of his team mates were caught out in the second half of the group, as Pedersen and eight others powered clear, they continued to lose time.

On the line, after four hours of racing in the rain, Bennett finished back in 22nd place at 2:18. And that time loss means he slips down the general classification from 8th this morning to 20th with one stage remaining.

However, Bennett did seem to climb well today and his downfall, and that of his team mates, was that they were too far back and too slow - perhaps unable - to respond when Pedersen went on the offensive and split the group.

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