Fernando Gaviria proved why he is regarded as one of the hottest prospects in cycling right now after a truly stunning sprint to win today's third stage of Tirreno Adriatico. Sam Bennett was in the same group but didn't have the legs to contest the gallop.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett was unable to get amongst the sprint that decided today’s third stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.
The Bora-Argon 18 man did cross the line in the same time as stage winner Fernando Gaviria of Etixx-QuickStep but he was down the field in 33rd place.
It wasn’t what the Irishman had hoped for from the opening trio of stages as the race heads but having not raced since the Tour of Oman – instead training right up to the race, he perhaps lacks some race sharpness.
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Also, the fact that Bennett only has one dedicated leadout man in the race can also be pointed to as a factor for him not featuring today.
“I have no legs this week, I overcooked it in training last week,” he said.
Bennett added he had pushed himself beyond what was set out for him in his coaching programme and had perhaps paid the price today for his own over enthusiasm.
However, his coaching has worked a treat in recent seasons and there will be plenty of chances ahead.
The 176-kilometre stage from Castelnuovo Val di Cecina to Montalto di Castro featured one significant climb after 120 kilometres but it wasn’t enough to distance any of the fast men.
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In the high-speed final. Gaviria proved the fastest, living up to the hype that’s surrounded him for the last year or so.
This, however, was his first WorldTour win and in beating Caleb Ewan (Orica-GreenEdge), Elia Viviani (Sky) and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), he once again proved himself as a rider of the highest class.
His teammate Zdenek Stybar finished safely in the main bunch to retain the blue jersey of overall leader.
Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders 216 kilometres to Foligno for the longest of this year’s race.
There’s a long finishing circuit that includes a 5.5 kilometre climb to Montefalco that is covered twice. That comes just 15km from the finish which should eliminate the weaker sprinters.
Stage 3: Castelnuovo – Montalto di Castro (176km)
1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Etixx-QuickStep 4:17:28
2 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge @s/t
3 Elia Viviani (Ita) Team Sky @s/t
4 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff @s/t
5 Leigh Howard (Aus) IAM @s/t
6 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Trek-Segafredo @s/t
7 Zico Waeytens (Bel) Giant-Alpecin @s/t
8 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida @s/t
9 Moreno Hofland (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo @s/t
10 Niklas Arndt (Ger) Giant-Alpecin @s/t
33 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora Argon 18 @s/t
General Classification
1 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx-QuickStep
2 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing @9secs
3 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing @s/t
4 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing @s/t
5 Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing @s/t
6 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Etixx-QuickStep at 11secs
7 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-QuickStep @s/t
8 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff at 14secs
9 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ at 18secs
10 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) FDJ @s/t
173 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora Argon 18 @15:06
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