Having finished 2nd on the opening stage at UAE Tour yesterday,
Sam Bennett did not feature in the final sprint of today’s stage 2 and rolled
over the line in 17th place in Abu
Dhabi Breakwater.
Irish champion
Ryan Mullen did a great job for Bennett and the others in the Bora-hansgrohe
lead-out train. Mullen muscled his way to the front in the final 5km and then
held the team there as other teams took turns to control the very front.
It was a
commanding performance by Mullen as he effectively held the team in position for
4km of the final 5km; a very difficult task, especially in a windy finale. As
Mullen’s work was done and he swung off with just under 1km to go the team was
in a race-winning position.
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However, while
Bennett looked ideally placed in that final kilometre, he got a little boxed on
in the sprint and also appeared not to have his usual strong kick when he
needed it.
The stage victory went to Mark Cavendish of QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, who came off Bennett’s wheel just as the Irishman looked like he was going to pounce himself. Cavendish took that victory – his third of the season – from yesterday’s winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix) and Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates).
How the Bora-hansgrohe lead-out went
With 10km remaining the sprinters’ teams were already massing their lead-outs at or near the front. Ineos Grenadiers were there for Elia Viviani while BikeExchange-Jayco were there for Dylan Groenewegen.
Trek-Segafredo were pulling close to the front for Emīls Liepiņš and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl were loitering with intent not far from the front, ready to catapult Cavendish into action, while Groupama-FDJ were doing the same for Arnaud Demare.
The Alpecin Fenix team of
stage 1 winner, and race leader, Philipsen were trying to play a clever game;
keeping the Belgian out of the headwind but also trying to hang back a little
so none of their riders hit the win too early.
With about 7km to go the
Bora-hansgrohe train began to become more visible as Kiwi Shane Archbald pulled
their line of riders into position, on the inside of the bunch and with Sam
Bennett in the green points jersey tucked into that formation.
With 5.5km to go,
and on very wide approach roads to the finish, UAE Team Emirates – working for Ackermann
– put a big effort in on a left hander and managed to take over at the front of
the bunch, which was re-arranged by that effort and the turn.
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At that point,
Bennett appeared to drift back a little; from about 10th to about 25th rider in
the bunch, though he was still in contact with the front with several minutes
of racing remaining.
With about 5km to go, Team DSM put a big effort in on the front and pulled that side of the peloton ahead of the rest; Ryan Mullen sitting about 8th or 10th and pulling the Bora-hansgrohe train into what looked like a perfect position at that point of the race and holding the team there perfectly.
With just over
2km to go, BikeExchange-Jayco made a bid for the front of that right
side of the road. Mullen had the nerve and legs to hold his position. He kept
the Bora-hansgrohe train close to the front, but sitting just behind the first
handful of riders in the wind.
And while Israel Premier Tech dominated on the run-in to
the right hand turn with 1.2km to go, Mullen once again held his place at the
head of the bunch; holding his team’s position just behind the lead riders.
Under the 1km to go marker, Mullen was sitting 5th rider,
with Archbald on his wheel, followed by Danny Van Poppel and Bennett just
behind him. As Mullen peeled off with about 900 metres to go, the team looked
like it was in a perfect position to release Bennett.
However, as Archbald and then Van Poppel hit the front
for Bennett, the Irishman initially became a little boxed in and then didn’t
appear to have the same kick as usual, calling an early halt to his sprint.
Cavendish was on his wheel at the time and came off it to sprint forward and take the victory from Philipsen and Ackermann. Philipsen retains the race lead after his 1st and 2nd placings on the opening two stages. The race takes is in a 9km flat TT tomorrow when Bennett can relax a little and Mullen will be in his best terrain.
