Sam Bennett unstoppable as he wins Tour of Turkey 2019 stage two
The Irishman makes it two wins in two to consolidate his lead in the GC
Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won an uphill sprint finish to claim his second stage win in as many days, consolidating his lead in the Tour of Turkey 2019.
The main feature of stage two was a punchy 3km climb to the finish. Bennett's Bora-Hansgrohe team-mate Lukas Pöstlberger attacked up to the line, drastically thinning out the peloton.
The Austrian road race champion's advantage wasn't enough in the finishing straight, as Bennett led the chase behind and overhauled Pöstlberger with 100m to go.
The Irishman retains the leader's jersey, after winning the sprint finish in stage one, and extends his lead in the general classification to 14 seconds, with Bora-Hansgrohe's Felix Grossschartner in second place.
Mark Cavendish finished 94th, 3-39 down on Bennett, after the Manxman put in a massive shift for Dimension Data in the drag up to the start of the climb to the finish, trying to set something up for his team before quickly dropping off as the gradient began to increase.
Talking to Eurosport, Bennett said: "The finish was much harder than yesterday's. What was most difficult there was to keep patient as the roads were really narrow. Pöstlberger went, it was a good move, the guys did an amazing job into the bottom of the climb, that was critical, very good work from the team today.
"The gradient was all over the place, but that's OK as I can do hard accelerations repeatedly, it suited me really well. I was surprised, I mean I was up for it but I didn't know if I'd get it or not."
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When asked just how many victories he can come away from the six-day stage race with, Bennett said: "Yeah that would be nice but I don't want to jinx anything yet."
Tour of Turkey 2019 stage two: Tekirdağ to Eceabat (183.3km)
1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 4-11-48
2. Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
3. Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Manzana-Postobon
4. Gonzalo Serrano (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
5. Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE-Team Emirates
6. Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko-Marseille Provence
7. Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates, all same time
8. Edgar Pinto (Por) W52-FC Porto, at 3 secs
9. Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM, at 4 secs
10. Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias, at same time
General classification after stage two
1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 7-44-12
2. Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe, at 14 secs
3. Jhonatan Restrepo (Col) Manzana-Postobon, at 16 secs
4. Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE-Team Emirates, at 20 secs
5. Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE-Team Emirates
6. Mauro Finetto (Ita) Delko-Marseille Provence
7. Gonzalo Serrano Rodriguez (Esp) Caja-Rural-Seguros RGA, all at same time
8. Edgar Miguel Lemos Pinto (Por) W52-FC Porto, at 23 secs
9. Christophe Noppe (Bel) Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise, at 24 secs
10. Cyril Barthe (Fra) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias, at same time
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Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.