Bennett beats world-class sprinters field to take stage 3
March 7 th 2017 - 16:52
Three in the lead
The start was given at 12:06 to 167 riders. Three men broke from the gun, Pierre-Roger Latour (Ag2R), Benjamin King (Dimension Data) and Romain Combaud (Delko-Marseille). Their lead rapidly increased and reached 6:50 shortly before the first intermediate sprint of the day in Epoisses (Km 55). Combaud took the three points on the line ahead of Latour and King.
Led by Demare's FDJ team-mates, the peloton was content with controlling the break and the gap kept rising to reach eight minutes at kilometer 86.
Gap goes down
After the feeding zone, the peloton reacted thanks to Alexander Kristoff's Katusha team-mates and the three saw their lead go down to 3:30 at the top of the 3rd category Cote de Granmont (Km 128), on which King collected four points. The gap had melted down to he minute when the three tackled the 2nd category Cote de Charrecey, 25 km from the finish. Pierre Latour surged 500 metres from the summit to pick the seven points and joined forces with Combaud in the descent as King lost ground. The American was joined in the chase by France's Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), but both were reeled in with 20 km to go.
Gearing up for a bunch sprint
South African champion Reinardt Janse van Rensburg was forced out of the race after crashing heavily in the middle of the bunch. At the second intermediate sprint in Mercurey (Km 173), won by Latour ahead of Combaud and Michael Matthews (Sunweb), the lead of the two Frenchmen was 35 seconds. The bunch was led in succession by Direct Energie, Lotto Soudal, FDJ, Katusha and Quick Step riders in the last 15 km.
Bennett surges
Latour and Combaud did not falter but finally had to lay the arms under the red flame as the sprinter teams moved up a gear. Katusha and Quick Step led the way for Kristoff and Kittel while Demare found himself blocked near the barriers on the left side of the road. But none of them could react when Bennett produced his effort, surging with 150 metres left to outwit the opposition and score his first win of the season.