Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) may be better known for his sprinting than his time trialing but he has put in a good shift against the watch on the opening day of action at Deutschland Tour (2.Pro).
The Irishman was 9th over the short and sharp 2.3km distance in Sankt Wendel, with the sprinters and other power riders very much to the fore on the the opening stage of five. Bennett is riding this race - and Tour Britain next month - instead of the La Vuelta and would dearly love a stage win this week.
Some of the men he will have to beat in a sprint to the line in coming days were ahead of him today, with Ethan Vernon (Soudal-QuickStep) claiming victory. The British rider was just one second faster than runner-up Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who won the TT and overall at Tour of Denmark (2.Pro) last week before winning Bemer Cyclassics (1.UWT) in Germany on Monday.
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Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) was 3rd today, at three seconds, on the same time as Bennett's team mates, Danny van Poppel and Nils Politt, who were 4th and 5th. Bennett was five seconds down in 9th place after his 55.946km per hour effort over 2:28.
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Tomorrow's stage is 179km from Sankt Wendel to Merzig and though there are some small climbs in the second half of the race - including one on the finishing circuit, to be negotiated twice - Bennett will hope to survive in the bunch and challenge in the finishing sprint.
