Sam Bennett surged to victory after a dramatic crash that saw most of the peloton go down with just under 1km to the finish on stage 14 of the Vuelta a España in Oviedo today.
The Irishman beat Argentine Maximiliano Richeze and Belgian Tosh van der Sande into second and third place respectively after going clear of the field.
It was Bennett’s second stage victory at the Vuelta.
He said his team kept him near the front and worked hard all day to position him correctly.
“They put me in a good place over the last few kilometres. There was slowing down on the hardest part and one guy came past at speed.
“I didn’t want to wait too long, but Richeze went and I was afraid that the other guy was going too fast, so I just went.”
He said he achieved good speed over the final stretch and with 300m to go he made his move to jump to the front.
“I thought it was too far out, but I had enough power and I’m delighted.”
The crash saw several of the sprinters and GC contenders, including world champion Alejandro Valverde and race leader Primoz Roglic, go down.
Due to the incident happening within the final 3km, none of the time gaps on the finish line will count for the likes of the main GC contenders.
This means Roglic survives another day in red.
Sam Bennett won stage 14 of the Vuelta a España in Oviedo today. Photo: Photogomez Sport
View more results below.
Stage 14 results
1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:28:46
2. Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3. Tosh van der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal +0:00:02
4. Marc Sarreau (Fra) Groupama-FDJ +0:00:05
5. Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
6. Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
7. Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team
8. John Degenkolb (Ger) Trek-Segafredo
9. Maximilian Walscheid (Ger) Team Sunweb
10. Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
*Selected
40. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data +0:01:15
41. Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data
70. Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data +0:01:57
100. Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin +0:02:56
General classification
1. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 53:49:19
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team +0:02:25
3. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +0:03:01
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team +0:03:37
5. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +0:05:21
6. Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe +0:06:15
7. Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits +0:07:18
8. Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal +0:07:33
9. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb +0:7:39
10. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain Merida +0:09:58
*Selected
42. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Team Dimension Data +1:05:02
92. Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Dimension Data +1:52:13
99. Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin +1:56:22
133. Jaco Venter (RSA) Team Dimension Data +2:26:57
