Bennett finishes second in stage one of Paris-Nice

Sam Bennett had a strong start to the Paris-Nice stage race on Sunday, finishing second against many of the world’s top sprinters at the end of stage one to La Verrière. He crossed the line in behind Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), the Belgian champion launching his sprint just before Bennett did and carrying more momentum into the final 100m.

Former world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) finished very closely behind Bennett for third.

Carrick-on-Suir sprinter Bennett was put into a strong position by his Bora-hansgrohe teammates heading into the final 2km. However, a surprise attack inside the final kilometre by Florian Sénéchal (Soudal-QuickStep) forced Bennett’s leadout man Danny Van Poppel to surge early and chase him down .Van Poppel’s longer effort meant that the leadout he provided was at a slower speed than usual. Bennett kicked inside the final 200m and tried to get up to full sprinting speed, but Sénéchal’s teammate Tim Merlier had already launched his sprint from behind and was at full momentum when the Irishman was still accelerating.

Merlier carried that speed on to take the stage, while Bennett just about held off former world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) for second. He has taken five career stage wins in the race and will hope to add at least one more in the days ahead. Monday’s stage to Fontainebleau looks tailor-made for a bunch gallop, and further opportunities may follow after Tuesday’s team time trial.

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Meanwhile, Lara Gillespie had a superb debut showing with the UAE Development Team, finishing a very fine second in the 1.2-ranked Poreč Trophy in Croatia on Sunday. She hit the line one second behind the winner Yanina Kuskova (Tashkent City Women’s Professional Cycling Team), the Enniskerry competitor outsprinting five other riders to take the runner-up slot.

Last week Gillespie was competing at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia, being part of the four-woman team pursuit squad who broke their own national record twice in two days and finished fifth. Also part of that squad was Mia Griffin, who is competing this season with the Israel Premier Tech Roland team. She was a non-finisher in the Strade Bianche Donne WorldTour race on Saturday, then placed 53rd in the Trofeo Oro in Euro race in Italy on Sunday.