Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) has taken his first victory of the season today by winning the opening stage of Critérium International (2.HC) in Corsica today.

The stage consisted of a 90.5-kilometre loop around Porto Vecchio. It came down to a bunch sprint and the Irish rider proved fastest ahead of French riders Rudy Barbier (Roubaix-Lille Métropole) and Romain Feillu (HP BTP-Auber 93).

An early break formed after fifteen kilometers made up of a trio of riders, Pierre Latour (AG2R-La Mondiale), Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energy) and Jérémy Leveau (Roubaix-Lille Métropole). The peloton only allowed them to gain 1’40” before starting the chase.

FDJ and Bora-Argon 18 did the bulk of the work but decided not to rein the trio in too soon. However, the bunch nearly left it too late and with three kilometres left, they still held a lead of 25 seconds. They were only caught inside the final kilometre.

In winning the sprint, Bennett also took the first yellow jersey of the race. He now leads the race by 2″ from Barbier and 4″ from Feillu. The race continues this afternoon with a 7-kilometre time-trial in Porto-Vecchio.

Stage 1 Results
1 Sam Bennett Bora-Argon 18 2:03:15
2 Rudy Barbier Roubaix Lille Métropole ”
3 Romain Feillu HP BTP – Auber93 ”
4 Stéphane Poulhies Equipe Cycliste Armée de Terre ”
5 Samuel Dumoulin AG2R La Mondiale ”
6 Jimmy Raibaud Equipe Cycliste Armée de Terre ”
7 Ramunas Navardauskas Cannondale Pro Cycling Team ”
8 Fabian Wegmann Stölting Service Group ”
9 Benjamin Giraud Delko Marseille Provence KTM “

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