Sam Bennett blasted to his fifth victory of the season on Tuesday, winning the opening stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey in Tekirdag.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider latched on to the train of Deceuninck–Quick-Step before powering away from Fabio Jakobsen to take the stage with Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) making up the podium.
“We were looking for QuickStep’s wheel but then it all came together at a good moment, before the last right-hander and the boys did a super job, I have to give them a lot of credit for today,” Bennett said.
“After my break I don’t really have the same condition but I know that, as a sprinter, you still have to get the results. I learnt a lot last year and matured a lot as a rider, and I hope to get better and better. As a sprinter you have to win if you’re good or bad. I dipped the form a little bit too much but it was enough for today. We’ll take each day as it comes. There’s a bit of pressure off now but we still want more wins.”
.@Sammmy_Be sprints to victory in the first stage of the Tour of Turkey ?♂️?#TUR2019 pic.twitter.com/8XUnt0lECG
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) April 16, 2019
Tour of Turkey 2019 – stage 1 results (Istanbul – Tekirdağ):
| 1 | Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) | 3:32:34 |
| 2 | Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 3 | Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 4 | Eduard Grosu (Delko Marseille Provence) | ,, |
| 5 | Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 6 | Luca Pacioni (Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM) | ,, |
| 7 | Imerio Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane) | ,, |
| 8 | Christophe Noppe (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise) | ,, |
| 9 | Giovanni Lonardi (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane) | ,, |
| 10 | Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
