Following on from his second place on the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya, Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) took another podium place at the WorldTour race when he finished third today on the 114-kilometre penultimate stage from Pobla de Segur to Torrefarrera.
The Irishman proved fastest in the bunch sprint but a pair of riders who had built the breakaway of the day managed to make it to the finish line where Maximilian Schachmann (Quick-Step Floors) took the win ahead of Diego Rubio (Burgos-BH).
The penultimate stage was shortened due to snow and covered 114km instead of 194.2km. The race started in Pobla de Segur and had one intermediate sprint and one categorised climb before the race finished in Torrefarrera and was a stage earmarked for the fast men in the peloton.
The race was marked by pouring rain all-day, but the pace was high right from the start. Schachmann and Rubio built up a maximum gap of four minutes before the peloton started to close the gap with 33 kilometrs remaining.
BORA – hansgrohe and Mitchelton-Scott took the lead of the peloton, but the breakaway worked very well together and had always a gap of some seconds. As the race headed into the finale, the duo was still in front of the race and the peloton were unable to close the gap.
The reduced bunch finished 18 seconds behind the leading pair, where BORA – hansgrohe set the pace. Jay McCarthy was the final lead-out man for his teammate Sam Bennett and the Irish sprinter took the win out of a reduced bunch and crossed the line in third place.
BORA – hansgrohe set the pace in the peloton, Jay McCarthy started the sprint for his teammate Sam Bennett. The Irish sprinter took the win out of a reduced bunch and crossed the line in third place.
Sam Bennett – “It´s a pity we didn’t catch the two leaders, but they rode strong and deserve the win. I felt good today, my legs come better and better. Coming to Catalunya I missed some race kilometres, but now I think my shape is coming good, which is important for the upcoming races.”
Christian Pömer – Bora-hansgrohe Directeur Sportif – “Big compliment to the whole team. We were five at the start today, therefore we knew it would be difficult for us in a bunch sprint. But the guys worked really hard the whole day. Davide set the pace with the other teams in the peloton and we thought we can close the gap. But the breakaway worked really good together and made it to the finish.”
