Sam
Bennett has just missed out on his third Vuelta stage win today, being forced
to settle for 2nd in the end behind Philippe Gilbert.
The
Deceuninck-QuickStep rider and former world champion was the only rider from a
large front group able to hunt down Bennett when he went for a long one at the
finish of stage 17.
Both
the winner and runner-up had forged clear very early in the stage, with their 40-strong
group getting smaller and smaller in the tailwinds as speeds were over 70km per
hour for long periods.
The 219.6km stage from Aranda de Duero to Guadalajara was run off in an average speed of 50.63km per hour.
The big news was that Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was
in the breakaway, which gained 5½ minutes on the day.
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That meant the chase from behind was intense, with
the peloton whittled down to a select group that was only half the size of the
breakaway.
In
the end Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) was the fancied man for the sprint finish
after Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) was dropped from the large
breakaway.
However,
Deceuninck-QuickStep had numbers in the front group and they played their hand
expertly.
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When
the pressure eased off a little in that front group in the final kilometre, Zdeněk
Štybar attacked and got a gap.
As
the finish neared and everyone was on their last legs, Bennett took it up and
attacked after Štybar with 700 metres remaining.
Sam
Bennett caught the Czech rider and passed him, but was being hunted down from
behind by Gilbert.
And
just as Bennett began to tire into the headwind finish, Gilbert caught him and
came around him to win; Bennett in 2nd place two seconds back.
There
was no change in the race leadership, with Primoz Roglic holding the red
jersey, though he had no team mates around him when the peloton was reduced to
a select group.
Quintana
was the big winner on general classification, moving from 6th to 2nd
overall, now just 2:24 behind Roglic.
Last kilometre, excellent racing
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