Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) cut an irate figure at the end of stage 2 at Tour of Britain, where he had to settled for 3rd place into Wrexham behind winner Olav Kooij (Jumbo Visma) and runner-up Danny van Poppel, the Irish rider's lead-out man.
Once again Wout van Aert was final lead-out man for team mate Kooij, launching the Dutch rider to victory. Yesterday, Van Aert appeared to move - very subtly - to his right and squeezed Bennett off Kooij's wheel and today something similar happened, though this time it was more significant.
As Van Aert pulled off the front and released Kooij, he moved to his right, closing the door a little on Van Poppel, with Bennett blocked behind him. Bennett waved his hand in the air in frustration, appeared to shout something and also repeatedly shook his head as he crossed the line - which is unlike him.
Advertisement
However, it was unclear if that frustration was directed at Van Aert for moving right at a pinch point in the road just before the finish or of he was annoyed because he felt Van Poppel did his own sprint. But, similar to yesterday, it was all going on behind Kooij and it is very doubtful if Bennett would have beaten him today as the Irishman left it too late to move up the inside.
Related News
Slightly earlier in the sprint, as Van Aert was on the front leading Kooij, Van Poppel was third wheel and let a small gap open, with Bennett riding up to him and appearing to say something to him. That caused Van Poppel to dig in and close the gap, though the line then came much too quickly for Bennett to move from fourth and make a proper challenge to win.
More to come.
