Sam Bennett has put in the surge of his life to leave a quality field for dead in the finale of Tour of Britain stage 2, only being pipped on the ramp to the finish by Milan San Remo champion Gerald Ciolek.
By Gavin McLoughlin
Sam Bennett showcased his ferocious talent in coming agonisingly close to victory on stage 2 of the Tour of Britain today, Monday.
The 22-year-old An Post-Chainreaction rider charged away from a top-quality field on a steep finishing ramp in Kendal, only to be overhauled by Milan-San Remo winner Gerald Ciolek (MTN Qhubeka) in the final 25 metres.
Bennett’s powerful display will greatly enhance his chances of securing the fourth spot on the Irish team for the elite men’s road race at the World Championships. That place was due to be awarded at a selectors meeting today.
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The Carrick-on-Suir man has been in excellent form of late, bagging a win in a pro kermesse in Belgium at the end of August and finishing 4th and 7th in two separate UCI 1.1 ranked races in recent weeks.
Victory here would have been sweetest of all, but Bennett’s performance will surely attract attention from bigger teams and could serve as the catalyst for a jump to the World Tour or Pro Continental ranks.
Another Irishman who laid down a pre-Worlds marker today was Dan Martin, the Garmin-Sharp rider who lit up the stage with a long-range attack on the severe first-category Honister Pass.
That ascent arrived about 70 kilometres from the finish, with Martin jumping strongly away from the peloton to demonstrate that despite crashing out of the Vuelta, he remains in excellent condition.
He was joined in the move by Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana and worked hard to stay away, but ultimately they were swallowed up by a Sky-led peloton with 36 kilometres remaining.
Down rider Sean Downey (An Post-Chainreaction) was also prominent, constituting part of the initial break of the day and taking the maximum of six mountains points on the first climb of the stage, the second-category Fangs Brow.
He would go on to claim another ten of those points, and is now second on the mountains classification behind Angel Madrazo (Movistar).
It was an excellent ride by Downey who has shown a number of times this year that when lumpier races are included in his team’s schedule, he is extremely strong in them. The shame for him is that he rides many races that are relatively flat and suit the speedsters.
Martin and Quintana managed to bridge across to the 23-year-old Downey’s group on the final categorised ascent, and it was here that for the former Banbridge CC man’s time up the road came to an end as ultimately he could not match the pace of those world-class climbers.
For a second consecutive day, the riders were battered by brutal weather, and there would be some disappointment for Irish supporters as 23-year-old Dominic Jelfs was among 10 riders who were unable to finish the stage.
Three categorised climbs were dotted closely together on an undulating 187-kilometre trek from Carlisle to Kendal, with the last peaking about 48 kilometres from home. It looked like a sizeable group would be present for the dash to a finish line that sat atop a steep 400-metre ramp.
Downey was joined in the initial escape by Mike Northey (Node 4-Giordana), Jonathan Dibben (Great Britain), Nicola Boem (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox), Matt Cronshaw (IG-Sigma Sport), Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun) and Angel Madrazo (Movistar).
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These men led the way through the beautiful Lake District, but with the Sky train in control of the pursuit they never enjoyed a significant advantage.
Boem was the first to lose contact as the lumpy terrain took its toll, but the Italian was contented that in his time out front he had done enough to wrest the sprints jersey from An Post man Aaron Gate.
Rainwater washed down the road as the leaders came to the Honister Pass, with Downey wrestling his bike up a severe slope surrounded by an impressive crowd.
When the peloton came to the climb, Martin jumped away from the field and was soon joined by Quintana. Over the top and into the valley came the elite duo, with Martin expending huge energy to drive on.
He and Quintana finally caught up the breakaway on the second-category Chestnut Hill, and of the escapees only Quintana’s teammate Madrazo could follow.
Martin kept working hard, but the trio were a long way from home and could not escape the clutches of Sky, caught as they were 36 kilometres from the finish.
Speculative attacks would follow from Jacob Rathe (Garmin-Sharp) and Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani Valvole – CSF Inox), but the most convincing came from Thomas Löfkvist (IAM Cycling).
The Swede rode away from the bunch with 10 kilometres to go, and made it all the way to the finishing ramp in Kendal. Three An Post men were at the front of a peloton so depleted it resembled a select group as Löfkvist’s chasers roared up to the climb just seconds behind him. And then Bennett came charging past like a locomotive.
The Irishman surged towards glory in a big gear, with most of the field floundering well behind. With 100 metres left, he seemed to sense danger and swivelled his head to drink in the sight of a rapidly-gaining Ciolek.
And it was the German who had timed his move best, coming through in the final 25 metres to leave Bennett a disappointed runner-up.
A near miss for the Irishman, then, but it was a performance that will do his standing in the cycling world a considerable amount of good.
@gavmcloughlin
Stage 2: Carlisle to Kendal (187 km)
1 Gerald Ciolek (MTN Qhubeka) 5:01:01
2 Sam Bennett (An Post-Chainreaction)
3 Thomas Löfkvist (IAM Cycling) @ 6s
4 Simon Yates (Great Britain)
5 Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
6 Jack Bauer (Garmin-Sharp) @ 9s
7 Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling)
8 Marco Coledan (Bardiani Valvole- CSF Inox)
9 Sergio Padilla (MTN Qhubeka)
10 Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
12 Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) @ 12s
28 Philip Deignan (United Healthcare) @ 17s
62 Sean Downey (An Post-Chainreaction) @ 2:02
101 Peter Hawkins (IG-Sigma Sport) @ 27:45
DNF Dominic Jelfs (Madison Genesis)
General Classification
1 Gerald Ciolek (MTN Qhubeka) 11:05:30
2 Simon Yates (Great Britain) @ 20s
3 Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
4 Marco Coledan (Bardiani Valvole- CSF Inox) @ 23s
5 Sergio Pardilla (MTN Qhubeka)
6 Julien Vermote (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)
7 Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling)
8 Sacha Modolo (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
9 Scott Thwaites (NetApp-Endura) @ 26s
10 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Bardiani Valvole-CSF Inox)
11 Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp)
43 Philip Deignan (United Healthcare) @ 1:19
56 Sean Downey (An Post-Chainreaction) @ 2:16
67 Sam Bennett (An Post-Chainreaction) @ 7:25
102 Peter Hawkins (IG-Sigma Sport) @ 30:48
