Ireland’s Sam Bennett claimed his second stage win of the UAE Tour at Palm Jumeirah today. Photo: Twitter @deceuninck_qst
Ireland’s Sam Bennett claimed his second stage win of the 2021 UAE Tour at Palm Jumeirah today.
The Deceuninck-Quick-Step reigning Tour de France green jersey winner proved too strong for his challengers in a mad dash to the line after 165km in the saddle.
Italian Elia Viviani (Cofidis) finished second ahead of Bora-Hansgrohe’s German rider Pascal Ackermann.
The win was Bennett’s 51st of his career having picked up his 50th victory on stage three.
“It feels amazing. Again, I wouldn’t have done it without my teammates today,” the elated 30-year-old said post-race.
“I really want (stage 7) and we’ll for sure go for it again. It’s always hard but we’ll try again.
“I think the more sprints we do together, the better we’re getting. It’s becoming more second nature. It’s just about repeating the same thing and making decisions in the final. We’re really getting to know each other and we’re pretty much nailing it at the minute,” Bennett concluded.
Red jersey overall leader Tadej Pogacar finished safely in the peloton to retain his 45-second lead over Adam Yates with Joao Almeida in third at 1:12.
Bennett will target a hat-trick of victories in Saturday’s final stage which will see the riders cover 164km from Yas Mall to Abu Dhabi.
Stage six
| 1 | Sam Bennet | IRL | 3:32:23 |
| 2 | Elia Viviani | ITA | |
| 3 | Pascal Ackermann | GER | |
| 4 | David Dekker | NED | |
| 5 | Fernando Gaviria | COL | |
| 6 | Giacomo Nizzolo | ITA | |
| 7 | Kaden Gorves | AUS | |
| 8 | Andre Greipel | GER | |
| 9 | Cees Bol | NED | |
| 10 | Michael Morkov | DEN |
*Selected
| 35 | Louis Meintjes | RSA |
| 52 | Stefan de Bod | RSA |
General classification
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar | SLV | 20:41:49 |
| 2 | Adam Yates | GBR | +0:45 |
| 3 | Joao Almeida | POR | +1:12 |
| 4 | Chris Harper | AUS | +1:54 |
| 5 | Neilson Powless | USA | +1:56 |
| 6 | Mattias Skjelmose Jensen | DEN | +2:47 |
| 7 | Damiano Caruso | ITA | +2:49 |
| 8 | Mattia Cattaneo | ITA | +4:03 |
| 9 | Ruben Fernandez | ESP | +4:23 |
| 10 | Fausto Masnada | ITA | +6:40 |
*Selected
| 18 | Louis Meintjes | RSA | +11:28 |
| 24 | Stefan de Bod | RSA | +12:44 |
