Sam Bennett (BORA – hansgrohe) today won the final stage of the Giro d’Italia to complete a hat trick of wins at the race. The Irishman passed ciclamino jersey winner Elia Viviani (Quick Step Floors) in the closing metres to take the victory in Rome.
Bennett’s third stage win completes a very successful Grand Tour for the German team which saw them finish with two riders in the top ten overall – Patrick Konrad finished in seventh place with Davide Formolo in tenth overall.
The final stage of the Giro took place in the heart of the Italian capital and the peloton had to cover 10 laps of an 11.5km circuit through the streets of Rome. The stage favoured the sprinters in the peloton, and with Sam Bennett, who had already won two stages in this edition of the race, the team wanted to go for a third stage victory.
On the third lap, a number of riders attacked and built a small gap over the main bunch. With four laps until the finish the race had split into several groups, with BORA-hansgrohe’s Andreas Schillinger still in the front of the race and his teammates were all together in the first group behind the breakaway.
The pace increased on the last two laps and on the final lap, the reduced bunch was back together and the excepted bunch sprint was set up with the BORA – hansgrohe riders forming a strong leadout for their sprinter.
Bennett positioned himself on the wheel of Viviani and came around him in the final hundred metres to take his third stage win in an impressive way.
Sam Bennett – “I woke up not feeling so good today, my legs were tired and I wasn’t sure if I could go for the sprint. The race course was really difficult and I couldn’t take my hands off the bike due to the cobblestones during the race I felt better as the pace increased and once again it was a great team effort. The boys worked so hard for me, closed the gap and did a strong lead-out. Without them the victory wouldn’t have been possible.”
Ralph Denk, BORA-hansgrohe Team Manager – “Our goal was a top ten result in the overall ranking and one stage win, now we will leave this Giro d’Italia with two riders in the top ten, three stage victories and a plenty of podium results. We exceeded our goals, which makes me really happy and proud. The whole team worked the last couple of weeks perfectly together, the riders, the whole staff and the two sports director, Christian Pömer and Jens Zemke did a stellar job.”
