Sam Bennett had to settle for the minor placings today in Germany in what was his comeback race after catching Covid-19. However, the Irish rider at least finished with all his skin after narrowly avoiding a crash in the final kilometre of Sparkassen Münsterland Giro (1.Pro), won by 20-year-old Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma).
Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) got squeezed between Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) on his left and Max Walscheid (Cofidis) to his right just before the final sprint opened. The Irishman endured a nervous moment as he wobbled and then appeared to back off and drifted behind the two riders he became sandwiched between.
Related News
While that late incident was not ideal, he was still on the wheel of Philipsen as the bunch sprint began. However, Bennett had become detached from his lead-out man Jordi Meeus and when Kooij pounced for the finish line he ran out a comfortable winner.
Advertisement
He took his 12th victory of the season, his first at World Tour level, from Philipsen and Walscheid. Itamar Einhorn (Israel-Premier Tech) took 4th, with Bennett 5th followed by Fabio Jakobsen (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) and Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco).
Ireland's Bennett did not appear to have the same firepower in the sprint as he had shown when taking two stages at La Vuelta last month. However, having faced a couple of weeks on the sidelines after being forced out of the Spanish Grand Tour with Covid-19 it will perhaps take him a race or two to hit his stride again.
While the season is almost over, Bennett is scheduled to ride Paris-Bourges on Thursday followed by Paris-Tours on Sunday. Today's 205.9km race from Telgte to Münster should stand him in good stead for the upcoming French races.
