Sam Bennett won the Eschborn-Frankfurt in a sprint finish on Sunday for his first victory of the season.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider edged Fernando Gaviria and Alexander Kristoff, a four-time winner of the race who finished on the podium for the seventh straight time.
The 183.9km race, traditionally held on May 1 in the Taunus Mountains around Frankfurt, included eight climbs, but with the last one more than 40 kilometres from the finish, it usually ends in a mass finish for the sprinters.
Led out by his Dutch teammate Danny van Poppel, who finished fifth, Bennett surged to victory.
“I think the team were fantastic today,” Bennett said. “They really looked after me all day, helped to control the race, and then in the final there was a perfect job in the positioning. Danny really timed the lead out to perfection, brought me inside 200 to go with a lot of speed.
“I had really good legs as well, but I just want to thank the whole team, the staff, just for supporting me the last few months, getting back on track, and always believing in me. I’m super happy with the result and it’s fantastic to get the win for a German team at a German race.”
