Sam Bennett wins third stage in five days to stay on course in Dunkirk
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's Irish rider Sam Bennett
Sam Bennett took his third stage win in five days at the badly-monikered Four Days of Dunkirk today, benefiting from a fantastic ride by his Decathlon Ag2r team that kept him to the head of the action in the cobbled finale of the 179km stage into Cassel, France.
Bennett’s French squad hit the front in the last 10km to reel in a five man escape group, catching the quintet with just 2km remaining and kept the carrick-On-Suir sprinter to the fore for the finale.
Belgian Oliver Naessen led Bennett out in the last kilometre where a split occurred at the head of the race and Bennett was able to power clear for his third stage win.
“My team-mates made my life a lot easier today,” smiled Bennett afterwards. “I didn't have to think about strategy, they did the work for me. I just had to manage the last five hundred metres well, so this victory is above all for my team-mates.
“Normally, in a bunch sprint, you always have to watch out for riders coming from behind, but this was a very different configuration. I knew I had to be in position four hundred metres from the left-hand bend, at which point it's very difficult to come from behind. I just tried to hold on afterwards, but I had to launch first.”
Bennett’s victory increased his overall lead to 28 seconds over second placed Paul Penhouet of Groupama FDJ, with Jenno Berckmoes of Lotto Destiny now third overall at 31 seconds as the six-day race goes into its final stage, while he also has an unassailable lead in the points classification.
“We'll see tomorrow if I've got any legs left,” he said of Sunday’s final stage. “But it's already been a great week."
