Sam Bennett went close to victory on Saturday’s penultimate stage of the UAE Tour, coming up just short on what was the final opportunity for the sprinters.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider was set up perfectly by his team-mates and seemed ideally positioned heading into the final 500 metres of the stage to Abu Dhabi Breakwater, only to lose ground when Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) launched first.
The Belgian went past Bennett at speed, catching him by surprise and immediately gapping him by several metres. While Bennett closed down on Merlier all the way to the line and was close to passing him, he ran out of road and had to settle for second place.
However, the quality of his sprint was reflected in the big gap he opened over the other riders who were behind him, with Friday’s stage winner Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) blown off his wheel. Bennett may well rue not launching his sprint two or three seconds earlier.
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He was third on Friday’s stage and while he will be frustrated not to take a stage win in the event, he is clearly in strong form. He lost out on victories this week due to positioning and tactical timing rather than a lack of leg speed.
“The sprints today and yesterday were pretty hectic,” admitted Bennett. “There’s tough competition in this race among the different sprint leadouts, but the guys did a fantastic job on both days, and we arrived at the finale in the perfect position.
“Unfortunately there are so many sprinters competing for the win here, and some guys take a risk and go early and ultimately get the reward. It’s hard to respond to so many sprinters in the fast finishes. But we’ll be back up and running in the next bunch sprint in the next races.”
Commenting on Twitter, he rued the fact that the race ends with an uphill climb on Sunday rather than another flat finish.
World road-race champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) remains in the race lead and appears poised for overall victory.
Meanwhile Lara Gillespie and Alice Sharpe finished ninth in the women’s Madison race held at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday. Danish riders Amelie Dideriksen and Julie Leth won the race.
Gillespie and Sharpe were part of the four-women Irish team pursuit squad this week which twice broke their own national record and finished fifth in the competition.
Orla Walsh was in action on Saturday in the women’s sprint. She finished in 23rd place in the qualifying round and progressed to the 1/16 final, where she was up against Japanese rider Riy Ohta. However, Ohta proved quickest, meaning that Walsh didn’t progress to the 1/8 finals.
She will be in action again on Sunday’s final day of racing, competing in the Keirin. Mia Griffin will ride the Omnium.
