Sam Bennett has placed 3rd on the final stage of the Tour of Turkey after a late attack by him in Istanbul was foiled.
Bennett had won the final stage last year but attacking with about a kilometre remaining and he tried the same move today.
He attacked just before the 1km red kite and pulled out a very decent gap as Deceuninck-QuickStep had three riders on the front.
Bennett jumped on the twisty narrow streets, on an incline, but it was Deceuninck-QuickStep who initially kept him at bay.
The Belgian squad was trying to set up stage 3 winner Fabio Jakobsen for another victory.
And when it looked like Bennett was no going to be caught, it was Jakobsen himself who decided to hunt down the Irishman.
All the while Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) was waiting for his moment. He got into Jakobsen's wheel and when he was satisfied the Dutch rider had spent his resources, the Australian went around him and got after Sam Bennett.
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At this point, deep into the final 500 metres, Bennett was gasping from his effort. Ewan caught him and went past him for a comfortable win.
And just behind him Jakobsen had also overtaken Bennett and so claimed 2nd place just one second behind Ewan, with Sam Bennett a further three seconds back rounding out the podium.
Some of the Deceuninck-QuickStep crashed on one of the final corners. However, at that stage the top three were off the front engage in a drag race to the finish line so the crash didn't affect the outcome.
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Bennett said when he came into the race that he had taken a break after Milan-Sanremo and brought his form off its peak as he looked ahead to the next phase of the season.
As a result, he was surprised to win the two opening stages. As the race went on while he sprinted well the depth of his condition was not what it had been last year when he won four stages.
Still, he showed he was able to secure WorldTour wins even when he knew he was not at his absolute best.
The Irish rider won the opening two stages was also 2nd and 3rd on two other stages, meaning he made the podium on five of the six stages.
As well as taking two victories and the points classification with Bennett, Bora-hansgrohe also won the queen stage yesterday and overall with Felix Großschartner.
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