Sam Bennett rues late mistake on final stage in Poland | Video | Sticky Bottle

*Sam Bennett had to try and surf the wheels yesterday but when UAE Team Emirates - who he was following - hit the front far too early, that was the end of the Irishman's chances of taking a victory*

Sam Bennett was left to regret a late mistake in the finale of the Tour de Pologne yesterday when he was forced to surf the wheels of other teams in search of a stage win and then hit the front in the final sprint much too early.

The Bora-hansgrohe man was left with no option but to back off as the sprint began and was then swallowed up by the other sprinters and their lead-out men before fading to 19th on the stage.

"The guys kept me in a good position on the circuit to save energy, and in the last 2km I tried to latch onto the rear wheel of another team. I then found one, but I think it was too early," Bennett explained of what was a messy finale for him.

"When the pace picked up, it was then hard to keep up. That was a bit of a daft mistake. But I'm glad the guys were able to get me into a good position, and I'm happy with how I was able to fight for position up to that point. In the end it wasn't a great result, but we know what went wrong and we can work on it for next time."

It was a disappointing end of the race for the Irishman, who was hoping to take a stage victory and so get a difficult season back on track. He also badly needed a win as he bids to make the Bora-hansgrohe team for La Vuelta after missing out on Tour de France selection.

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Rolf Aldag, Bennett's sports director in Poland, said the fact the Irishman's final lead-out man, Jordi Meeus, crashed out of the race during his TT ride on Thursday was a blow to the team's chance of success in yesterday's final sprint.

"It was not ideal that Jordi, the last man for Sam, was not there today because of his DNF yesterday. As a result, Sam had to take some more risks and invest a lot by positioning himself," Aldag said.

"Ryan (Mullen) took him up to the 2km mark, and then Sam had to latch onto another rider’s wheel from there onwards. He was behind (UAE's) Molano, but he stopped too early and then the others came from behind with momentum, and a sprinter simply doesn’t have a chance in that situation without momentum.

"Then, of course, the sprint was over and Sam wasn’t able to get involved in the end. However, it’s of course positive that Sergio finished safely and was able to finish the race in the top-10 overall."

Yesterday's stage win went to Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) while Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) finished in the bunch to wrap up overall victory. The British rider, whose career continues to go from strength to strength, took the race lead on Thursday when he finished 3rd in the stage 6 TT, won by 22-year-old Thymen Arensman (Team DSM).