Vuelta a Burgos: Sam Bennett wins stage 4

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Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-QuickStep) won stage 4 of the Vuelta a Burgos after he produced a powerful uphill effort in a chaotic final kilometre in Roa de Duero.

The Irish champion’s lead-out train was derailed by a crash with a kilometre to go, but he improvised to press clear alone on the gently climbing approach to the finish and claim a solo victory ahead of Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling).

The stage looked set for a more straightforward duel between the fastmen, but the complexion of the race changed on the sharp, uphill right-hand bend that led into the final kilometre, where both Michael Mørkøv (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Jacopo Guarnieri (Groupama-FDJ) crashed.

Bennett was positioned ahead of the crash and he had both the strength and the quickness of thought to take advantage of the confusion that ensued behind. With his hands on the hoods, he surged clear of the peloton and opened a decisive gap over the rest of the sprinters, and he had the nous to manage that advantage when the road flattened out on the approach to the line.

"Coming into the final corner, I was up there. I had look a look around after the crash to see who was there, and everybody had sort of paused so I decided to go," Bennett said of an effort that bore the hallmarks of a finisseur rather than a sprinter.

"It was longer than I remembered and it was really hard, but I was really happy to take that win. I really needed it."

It was a striking win that put in one in mind of Bennett’s triumphs at Imola on the 2018 Giro d’Italia and in Ovideo on last year’s Vuelta a España. Indeed, after that victory in Oviedo, Bennett revealed that physiological testing had suggested he had the endurance of a Classics rider rather than the pure speed of a sprinter.

"But I just wanted to be a sprinter, so I probably forced myself to be something that I'm not," Bennett said on that occasion.

He now has three wins to his name since joining Deceuninck-QuickStep as their lead sprinter this season, and the Burgos victory was an important boost to his confidence as he builds towards the Tour de France.

"It was the last chance to win here," Bennett said on Friday. "I really needed it and I did everything I could."

There was disappointment for Démare, whose Groupama-FDJ team had done much of the pace-making in the peloton throughout the afternoon and had then led the bunch through the succession of roundabouts on the run-in to the finish. Their train was overhauled by Deceuninck-QuickStep’s just short of the flamme rouge, however, and Démare had the misfortune to be forced virtually to a standstill when he evaded the crash.

"I had to slow down a lot and by the time I got going, Sam Bennett was already gone clear," Démare said. "He was able to take advantage of the crash – but he was very, very strong."

Nizzolo, who avoided the crash, hesitated rather than try to follow Bennett’s long-range effort, and the Italian was then pipped by Démare in the sprint for second place, some 4 seconds behind the Irishman.

Davide Cimolai (Israel Start-Up Nation) took fourth ahead of Lionel Taminiaux (Bingoal WB), while stage 2 winner Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) was among those impeded by the crash, though he managed to stay upright.

Bennett’s teammate Remco Evenepoel finished safely in the main peloton to retain the overall lead ahead of Saturday’s final stage to Lagunas de Neila. The Belgian holds an 18-second advantage over George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), with Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren) lying third at 32 seconds.

How it unfolded

Friday’s flat stage was animated by an early break of six riders that featured no fewer than three members of the Kometa Xstra team. Riccardo Verza, Alejandro Ropero and Diego Sevilla were joined on the offensive by Willie Smit (Burgos-BH), Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Damiano Cima (Gazprom-Rusvelo), and the sextet established a maximum lead of 4 minutes.

Groupama-FDJ did much of the heavy lifting in closing down the gap, with help from NTT and Bahrain-McLaren, and the gap was down to two minutes inside the final 40km.

The break began to splinter in the last 20km as the peloton drew ever close. The last two survivors in front were the Kometa Xstra du of Sevilla and Ropero, but they were swept up with 12km to go.

The tightly-packed peloton was on relatively narrow roads at that point, and a nervous crash saw David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates) among the fallers, though the Spaniard was able to remount and continue in the race, and he remains 9th overall.

Groupama-FDJ led the peloton smoothly through the succession of roundabouts on the fast approach to the finish, but the race was turned on its head as they slowed to tackle the uphill bend that led into the final kilometre.

Guarnieri and Mørkøv’s crash caused considerable confusion, but Bennett had the presence of mind to change his plans on the hoof and claim a resounding victory.

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