Ireland’s Sam Bennett wins fifth stage of Tour of Britain

Irishman Sam Bennett won the fifth stage of the Tour of Britain with a sprint finish into Caerphilly on Thursday, as Bradley Wiggins retained the overall lead.

The An Post-Chain Reaction rider outsprinted Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) after a group of riders pulled clear on the second climb of the category-one mountain in Wales.

Ian Stannard (Team Sky) led his team-mate Wiggins and, by keeping the group together, successfully helped preserve the four-times Olympic gold medallist’s 37-second lead.

Stannard is second in the general classification and leads Switzerland’s Elmiger by six seconds.

Bennett finished the 177km ride from Machynlleth to Caerphilly in 4hr 35min 28sec. The 22-year-old, who was beaten to the line by Gerald Ciolek (MTN-Qhubeka) in Kendal on stage two, launched an attack from the middle of the group on Caerphilly Mountain having already conquered Cwm Owen and the Brecon Beacons.

After clinching his first career stage victory the Belgium-born rider said: “It was a real hard fight coming into the finish but I knew if I hung on up the climb that I would recuperate quick enough for the sprint and I just hung in. It was a bit of a gamble going into the last corner – I went a bit wide – but I had enough acceleration to take the win.”