Ejea de los Caballeros (Spain) (AFP)
New Irish success: after Dan Martin on Thursday, Sam Bennett sprinted the 4th stage of the Tour of Spain on Friday between Garray and Ejea de los Caballeros (north-east), after which the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo- Visma) kept his red leader's jersey.
After three first hilly stages, the fourth, contested in Aragon on a flat 191 km course, was promised to the sprinters.
Sam Bennett, 30, did not pass up the opportunity to afford the third victory of his career in the Vuelta.
He beat the Belgian Jasper Philipsen (UAE) and the Italian Jakub Mareczko (CCC).
One of the other favorites for the sprint, the German Pascal Ackermann (Bora) finished just behind the trio (4th).
The race was animated by a breakaway from the first kilometer.
Four riders, Briton Harry Tanfield (AG2R La Mondiale), Spaniards Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) and Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH), and South African Willem Smit (Burgos-BH), counted up to four minutes in advance.
The four men were picked up in the last fifteen kilometers.
The Deceuninck team then took matters in hand two kilometers from the end to ideally place Sam Bennett for the sprint.
Jasper Philipsen started hostilities from afar but it was Bennett who finally crossed the line in front.
© 2020 AFP