BinckBank Tour: Sam Bennett wins stage 1 in Hulst

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Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the opening stage of the BinckBank Tour, taking the race lead in a wet sprint finish in Hulst. Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) took second, while Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) finished third.

Bahrain-Merida and Trek-Segafredo led the way in the closing kilometres, and in the closing metres Theuns looked set for victory after a strong lead-out. On the line, however, it was Bennett who jumped from behind a boxed-in Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma), hitting the wind at just the right time to speed past and take his ninth win of the season.

“I’m really happy,” said Bennett after the stage. “It’s my first win in this [national champion’s] jersey and I’m happy that it’s come sooner rather than later. I’m delighted.

“It was pretty dangerous. I was just trying to keep up front. The guys did a good job keeping me there and I kept in a good position in the last 2km and just tried to hold on to the bigger trains. I just tried to stay out of trouble really.

“To be honest, I was nervous with the rain, I had a few skids in the race. But it was good, I can’t complain.”

Bennett takes the green leader’s jersey into stage two, another flat stage from Blankenberge to Ardooie. Lukasz Wisniowski (CCC Team) and Lars Bak (Dimension Data) lie in second and third, two and three second down respectively, after taking bonus seconds at the ‘golden kilometre’ sector.

How it unfolded

Wet weather greeted the peloton on the first day of the race, a 167.2km race from Beveren in Belgium to Hulst, just across the border in the Netherlands. The riders would take the scenic route between the two towns, which are only around 20km away from each other, and would tackle six short cobbled sectors along the way.

Wisniowski and Bak were joined in the first break of the race by Baptiste Planckaert (Wallonie-Bruxelles) and Aaron Verwilst (Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise), with the four men getting away in the opening kilometre for what would be scant reward on a day certain to see a sprint finish.

Their advantage would peak at a handful of minutes before the inevitable catch late on, though Planckaert did come away with a consolation prize, winning both intermediate sprints to take the black combativity jersey.

Most of the riders passed the cobbled sectors without worry, though Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) was a notable name to hit the deck on the Zoentberm sector along with Larry Warbasse (AG2R La Mondiale).

Wisniowski was the final holdout from the break, holding on until the 3km mark as the peloton, led by Trek-Segafredo and Bahrain-Merida, charged onwards to the finish. Trek took over in the final kilometre, with Teunissen close behind working for Groenewegen.

Further back, Bennett was bumping shoulders as he battled for position, and eventually worked his way up to Groenewegen’s wheel. Theuns opened up the sprint first and looked all set for victory until Bennett came around the outside to sneak past in the dying metres.

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