Sam Bennett came from a less-than-ideal position to net fifth on stage two of the Tour de Pologne on Sunday, putting in a noticeable surge compared to his rivals in the finishing sprint. The Carrick-on-Suir rider began the race on Saturday but was out of position in a messy finale, almost crashing and then missing the wheel of his main lead-out rider in the chaos. He had to be satisfied with 14th but was much closer to the win on stage two into Zamość.
“It was quite a hectic finale, with patches of wet and also dry roads, which made it harder to find a good position,” Bennett said. “However, the guys did a great job and protected me well until the very last moment. Not many teams were very well organised today, so under these conditions we did the best that we could.
“I just think I had too many accelerations in the legs, so I didn’t have the final kick necessary in the finale. I was disappointed with how I felt in the last 200m. But I think that the form is almost there, and that big result is just around the corner.”
Bennett was clearly the fastest rider inside the final 50m, coming from a long way back and going close to passing the first four. He may well have done so had the line been a few metres further away.
He missed the Tour de France when his team opted to make its selection around a bid for the general classification, and hasn’t competed in seven weeks. Sunday’s showing will give him encouragement, even if the next chance for a bunch sprint might not come until Friday’s final stage.
Meanwhile, Rónán Dunne followed up his victory last week in the national elite downhill championships by taking a superb fourth in the UCI World Cup race in Snowshow in the US.
The performance by the 19-year-old is the best showing by an Irish rider at an elite downhill UCI World Cup meeting and is a very good indication for the future.
On Saturday, Matthew Teggart (Ireland) finished a solid 14th on stage two of the Kreiz Breizh Elites in Brittany. He was part of the main group sprinting for second, nine seconds behind the winner Jean-Louis Le Ny (WB-Fybolia Morbihan).
Tour de Pologne Poland (WorldTour)
Stage 2 Chełm to Zamość: 1 Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) 205.6 kilometres in 4 hours 47′23″, 2 P Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates), 3 J Milan (Bahrain-Victorious), 4 O Kooij (Jumbo-Visma), 5 S Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) all same time
Other Irish: 126 R Mullen (Bora-hansgrohe) same time
