Sam Bennett (BORA-hansgrohe) has taken his second stage win at this year’s Giro d’Italia after jumping early and surging clear of his opponents at the finish on the Imola motor racing circuit.
The result means that the Irish sprinter has closed the gap on Elia Viviani (Quick Step Floors) in the battle for the ciclamino points jersey. Viviani, who was distanced on the stage has 184 points while Bennett now has 162 points.
Directly after the start of the 214-kilometre stage, a group of five riders formed the breakaway of the day, and after some kilometres the gap increased to more than three minutes. As with previous stages, Bennett’s teammates did a stellar job to protect their sprinter. Cesare Benedetti set the pace together with his teammates at the front of the peloton even as it started to rain with 40 km to go and the roads got slippery.
The peloton caught the breakaway with 20 kilometres to go and the race lit up with many riders trying to go clear, but all attempts failed as the race headed into the finish on the Imola race circuit. Bennett stayed out of trouble towards the front of the group on the slippy roads.
Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) and Carlos Betancur (Movistar) had a small gap coming into the finish but Bennett jumped clear of the diminished peloton to pass the two and easily take his second stage win.
Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo) took second place, and Niccolo Bonifazio (Bahrain-Merida) third, as Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) maintained the pink jersey.
“The way it happened, that I had to go so early and I pulled it off – that’s a nice way to win,” said Bennett afterwards. “It gives me confidence. We still had two guys in front. I didn’t know how much energy they had left, but I didn’t want another stage getting away from me, so I decided to go early. I didn’t know if I could hold it or not. I think I caught some guys by surprise, so it worked to my advantage.
“The guys did an unbelievable job today, especially in the final kilometres. The victory wouldn’t have happened without them, today was a real team effort.”
“What should we say after this incredible victory,” said Jens Zemke, BORA-hansgrohe sports director. “The whole team did an amazing job today, stayed together and worked together. In the finale, Sam went out early but after his stage win he was confident and took the win with a gap over his opponents, just amazing. We are more than proud of this team.”
