Irish cycling has enjoyed an historic day reminiscent of the Kelly-Roche era, with Sam Bennett winning stage 3 today at the Vuelta and Nicolas Roche holding the race lead.
It was Bennett’s 12th win of what has become a
dream season; an incredible 10 of those victories coming at WorldTour level.
The Carrick-on-Suir fastman handled the late climbs much
better than the other sprinters on the 188km stage from Ibi.
Ciudad del Juguete to Alicante.
And on the technical tailwind finish,
Bennett romped in – as is his wont now – to yet another victory.
It was the fourth Grand Tour stage of his
career, having won three at the Giro last year.
He is only short of victory in July in France over the next few years to become a member of the club of riders who have won stages in all three Grand Tours.
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Roche held a lead of just two seconds starting today’s
stage, with yesterday’s winner Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in 2nd
place starting out.
When an early breakaway went clear, Roche’s Team Sunweb
helped the chase to ensure the gap did not become unwieldy.
The last of those escapees – king of the mountains Ángel
Madrazo (Burgos-BH) – was caught just after the last climb.
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The Spanish rider fought to the top of that last climb –
a cat 3 crested with 40km remaining – before being swallowed up.
His recapture effectively paved the way for a bunch sprint with Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) demolished to extend a rampant run in 2019.
He was a little out of position in the finale but latched onto the Trek-Segafredo train and in the end made it look easy.
He won the stage from Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott).
And when the stage came down to a bunch sprint it ensured Roche held his race lead.
He said yesterday he was hopeful of keeping the race lead for longer than the one-day spell he enjoyed back in 2013.
He has now done that and heads into tomorrow’s stage 4 – some
175.5km from Cullera to El Puig – with the coveted red jersey
on his back.
Like today, that stage features a late cat 3 climb and
whether it will produce a bunch sprint or general classification battle will
very much depend on how it is raced.
However, Nicolas Roche looks in fantastic shape and the terrain
tomorrow should hold no fear for him.
More to come.
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