Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) has been denied a final chance of a stage win at Tour de Hongrie today after the last stage was effectively scrapped due to extreme weather. The riders rode around eight laps of a circuit in Budapest, though it was made clear to them from the outset it was a procession for the fans and not a race.
There was no stage winner, no results for the general classification and no other prizes or category points awarded for the stage as the rain was so heavy the roads were deemed too unsafe for competition.
Instead, the stage - which was originally planned as a 150km race - was merely a show put on for the fans who had come to Budapest. It means Bennett - who was hoping for a second win of the season today - was denied the opportunity to fight in what was expected to be a bunch finish.
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Bennett was 2nd on the opening stage of the race on Wednesday, when he was just edged out in a very close finish by Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco AlUla). The Irishman was once again in the thick if it when a bunch sprint finish decided the destination of victory on stage 2. However, he faded to 14th, as the stage was won by Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep).
Bennett said after that performance he was not on the best day and though today's stage was expected to be another chance for him, it unfortunately disappeared when the heavens opened and the circuit was deemed too unsafe for a race.
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“The rain towards the end of the stage made it very slippery and dangerous," Bennett said after that stage 2 sprint. "You really had to find a good balance between taking risks for positioning and staying on the bike.
"In the end that took some extra accelerations and cost a lot of energy quite early in the finale already. Compared with headwind, a bit of a blurred vision due to the rain and maybe not the best legs it just wasn’t the best day for me.“
The race was won overall by Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) by 10 seconds from Ben Tulett (Ineos Grenadiers). Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), who won yesterday's stage 4 on an uphill finish, was 3rd overall at 13 seconds. Hirschi had taken the race lead after winning stage 3, which finished on a 4km climb.
Ireland's Bennett and his compatriot and team mate Ryan Mullen finished 64th and 79th respectively in the final general classification, which was taken after the results of yesterday's stage.
