Sam Bennett eases to victory on stage three of Volta ao Algarve 2021
Ethan Hayter remains in the yellow jersey after a rather uneventful stage to Tavira
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Sam Bennett took his second stage win on stage three of Volta ao Algarve 2021 after being guided perfectly to the front yet again by Michael Mørkøv who held on for third behind Danny Van Poppel.
Bennett (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) showed that he absolutely was the fastest man at the race this year with his second win of the race easily beating Van Poppel (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and his team-mate man Mørkøv.
Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) stays in yellow as the overall standings don't see much change at all going into the time trial tomorrow.
Stage three started in Faro and took on a fairly uneventful stage of 203.1km to a sprint finish in Tavira. Four riders went into the earlier break with Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Javier Moreno (Efapel), Henrique Casimiro (Kelly-Simoldes-UDO) and Julen Irizar (Euskaltel-Euskadi) with the latter being dropped with 29km to go.
The break was left out front just in front of the peloton until 11km to go when the Deceuninck - Quick-Step led peloton finally swallowed them up. The pace was slow considering they were building for a sprint.
This lack of pace led to a couple of riders going on the attack with Goncalo Amado (Antarte-Feirense) and Peio Goikoetxea (Euskaltel-Euskadi) went clear with Shane Archbold (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) bridging and telling the duo to sit up before they were caught with 7km to go.
A couple more counter-attacks came but yet again the pace of the peloton brought it back. The pace had finally picked up into the final 5km with Groupama-FDJ and UAE Team Emirates doing all the heavy work. They were soon joined by Bora-Hansgrohe.
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Stage four is an individual time trial around the town of Lagoa over 20.3km with the British rider being the favourite to be in yellow for the final stage.
Volta ao Algarve 2021 stage three, Faro to Tavira (203.1km)
1. Sam Bennett (Irl) Deceuninck - Quick-Step, in 5-02-14
2. Danny Van Poppel (Ned) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
3. Michael Mørkøv (Den) Deceuninck - Quick-Step
4. Jon Aberasturi (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
5. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
6. Eduard-Michael Grosu (Rom) Team Delko
7. Thomas Boudat (Fra) Team Arkéa-Samsic
8. Rui Oliveira (Por) UAE Team Emirates, all at same time
9. Iúri Leitão (Por) Tavfer-Measindot-Mortágua, at 2 seconds
10. Ryan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates, at same time.
General classification after stage three
1. Ethan Hayter (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, in 14-28-40
2. João Rodrigues (Por) W52-FC Porto
3. Jonthan Lastra (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, all at same time
4. Élie Gesbert (Fra) Team Arkéa-Samsic, at 4 seconds
5. Sebastián Henao (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, at 20s
6. Amaro Antunes (Por) W52-FC Porto, at 30s
7. Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, at 34s
8. Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) Ag2r-Citroën Team, at same time.
9. Delio Fernández (Esp) Team Delko, at 37s
10. Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkéa-Samsic, at same time.
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.