Sam Bennett may have been out of race action for the past month but the Carrick-on-Suir man came roaring back into the peloton today by winning the opening stage at Volta ao Algarve.
As he did in Paris-Nice earlier this season, Bennett also takes the first leader's yellow jersey in the race after his fantastic finishing kick proved too strong for the opposition in the bunch sprint this evening.
It was the Irish cyclist's sixth win of the year, with Bennett making no mistake on the drag up to the finish line, sprinting on the hoods, after a quality lead-out once again from his team.
However, Bennett and his Deceuninck-QuickStep squad didn't have it all their own way in the finale of the 189.5km stage from Lagos to Portimão.
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Both Shane Archbold and Fabio Jakobsen got caught up in the crash close to the finish, which took them out of the team's efforts.
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But in the final 2km, and sprinting for victory in a field thin on the ground with top quality fast finishers, Bennett was led out expertly by Davide Ballerini and then Michael Mørkøv.
In the end Danny van Poppel (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) pushed the Irish rider closest but had to be content with 2nd place. Bennett waited behind Mørkøv for as long as he could before pulling the trigger for yet another victory.
After Bennett and Van Poppel it was Jon Aberasturi who took 3rd place; reward for his Caja Rural-Seguros RGA having done a lot of work on the front in the final.
But it was Deceuninck-QuickStep who moved forward and dominated the front of the bunch in support of Bennett when it mattered, delivering him expertly before the Irish cyclist finished the job.
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