Sam Bennett sprints to victory on opening stage of the Tour of Slovenia

Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) took his second win of the season when he sprinted home at the head of the field on the opening stage of the Tour of Slovenia.

As expected, the stage ended in a bunch sprint and a perfectly timed lead-out brought Bennett into the right position to win the opener in Kocevje confidently. The Irish sprinter also takes the first leaders’ jersey of the race.

Today’s opener was one of three flat stages in the race, and the riders covered 159.4 kilometres between Koper and Kocevje. It took several attacks in the beginning of the stage, before a group of 9 riders went away from the peloton on the first climb of the day. With sprinters in the bunch like Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data), Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team) as well as Bennett, it was clear that the bunch would control today’s breakaway.

After the gap increased to about 4 minutes, the sprinter’s teams started to wind up the pace and gradually cut the advantage of the leading group. Alex Saramotins was one of the guys pulling at the head of the peloton, together with riders from Dimension Data and Bahrain Merida.

Going into the last 20 kilometres, the gap of the leaders was already under one minute, and all was set for a bunch sprint. The last breakaway rider was caught with 7k to go, as the lead-out trains started to organise.

With a perfectly timed effort, BORA – hansgrohe hit the front with one kilometer to go. Lukas Pöstlberger and Rüdiger Selig opened the sprint for Bennett, who finished off a strong lead-out with a superb win in Kocevje, which also means the overall lead in the race after day one. Sonny Colbrelli took second with Luka Mezgec (ORICA-Scott) taking third in his home race.

“We controlled the race the whole day with Alex pulling together with the other sprinter teams,” explained Bennett. “Because the day was easy in the bunch, the final on the last two laps was especially fast. We lost each other a little with 4k to go, but Rafa brought as back up. When we hit the front on the last k, Pösti and Rudi delivered me so fast, I just had to hold the speed to the line. It was a great win after a strong team work. I still feel a little tired after the Giro, but the speed is also still in my legs.”

“After the Giro we took some time to think about how we can adapt our lead-out to Sam’s needs,” said Directeur Sportif Christian Pömer. “I think today’s win is a great example of team work, not just on the road, but also from all guys working really hard in the background.”