Sam Bennett may not be at the Tour de France, where he expected to be racing this month, but the Irish rider has gone to Sibiu Cycling Tour instead, where he won the opening stage today and took the first leader's jersey of the race.
While the Romanian event is at a more modest level than the Bora-hansgrohe sprinter is used to, he was under pressure to win today. He executed his plan to take his second victory of the season, having opening his account way back in January at Vuelta a San Juan Internacional in Argentina.
Today, the 199km opening stage of Sibiu Cycling Tour started and finished in Sibiu, and though there was a late climb that might have split the field, a big bunch went to the finish for a sprint where Bennett was by far best. He took the verdict from the Lotto-Dstny duo of Milan Menten and Michael Schwarzmann.
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With a climbers' finish to tomorrow's and Saturday's stages, Bennett is unlikely to hold onto the leader's jersey. However, he should get another chance at a sprint on Sunday, though it's already a case of 'job done' for him in using this race to get back to winning ways.
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While Schwarzmann jumped in the final kilometre today, clearly hoping to catch Bennett by surprise on a drag up to the finish, the Irishman had the legs to close the gap. He then passed the German and kept his momentum going on the front, leaving no chance for those behind him to get back on terms.
