Sam Bennett sprints to Vuelta a España Stage 3 Victory!

BORA – hansgrohe train was on fire and launched Bennett to the front to power across the line ahead of Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) and Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott), taking his tenth WordTour stage win

Yesterday’s stage was supposed to be a stage for the fast men in the peloton but it turned into a battle of the GC contenders in the race. Stage 3 of the Vuelta a España was, following the stage profile, a real flat stage.

The stage started in the city of Ibi and after 188 kilometres and two third category climbs and one intermediate sprint the race had its big showdown in Alicante, where a bunch sprint was expected.

Right after the flag was dropped three attacked and went up the road. The trio immediately opened a gap of more than three minutes, while BORA – hansgrohe remained in the main bunch, focusing on their sprinter Sam Bennett.

The peloton took it easy and gave the escapees a couple of minutes advantage for most of the stage. Approaching the finale, the sprinter teams took control of the main bunch, especially Pawel Poljanski did a stellar job at the front of the race.With the gap dropping steadily before it was all back together with around 30 km remaining.

BORA – hansgrohe started their lead-out for their Irish sprinter. The race headed into the finale, and the BORA – hansgrohe train was on fire, bringing Sam into position perfectly. Especially Jempy Drucker and Shane Archbold, his last lead-out men did a stellar job to make sure their sprinter was up the front. Sam Bennett finished the great teamwork off with another stunning victory in this season, his 10th WorldTour stage win so far.

Following this great result, the Irish sprinter now leads the sprint classification of the Vuelta a España.

“I always feel the pressure of expectation and always want that win on a sprint stage. The boys were really amazing today, they made the win possible and I'm really grateful. The lead out was messy with Shane being pushed off my wheel by Trek and Jempy also having to fight hard but both those guys did a super job! Really happy to take my 4th Grand Tour stage victory and hopefully my first of many at the Vuelta. Red Jersey and a stage win: Huge day for Irish cycling and one we can all cherish.” – Sam Bennett

2019 La Vuelta Stage 3 Stage Highlights

2019 La Vuelta Stage 3 Top 10

1 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:25:02
2 Edward Theuns (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 4:25:02
3 Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott 4:25:02
4 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 4:25:02
5 Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain-Merida 4:25:02
6 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:25:02
7 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:25:02
8 Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 4:25:02
9 Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team 4:25:02
10 Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 4:25:02

2019 La Vuelta GC after Stage 3 Top 10

1 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb 9:51:14
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:02
3 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First 0:00:08
4 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott 0:00:22
5 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:33
6 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:00:35
7 Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Education First 0:00:37
8 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:00:38
9 Davide Formolo (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:46
10 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe