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Seán Kelly believes Friday’s leg of the Tour de France will be the last chance for Sam Bennett’s rivals to snatch the green jersey from the Irish rider.
With just four days of racing to go, the Carrick-on-Suir man has a 47-point lead over Peter Sagan, with Italian Matteo Trentin adrift 13 more points.
Bennett crossed the line of a grueling 170km stage more than half an hour behind stage winner Miguel Ángel López, but within the time limit, and crucially extended his lead in green.
Tomorrow marks the last mountain stage before Friday’s relatively flat stage compared to today’s exploits, a 166km journey from Bourg-en-Bresse to Champagnole. It is likely to be Sagan’s last chance, and to a lesser extent perhaps Trentin, to make serious advances to the top of the standings before the weekend’s finale.
If he doesn’t, Bennett will emulate the accomplishments of Kelly, a four-time points leaderboard winner, and cruise the Champs-Elysees on Sunday with his 2020 Tour ambitions achieved; the vert jersey to go with a stage win.
Speaking at Eurosport today before the conclusion of stage 17, Kelly says that while the 29-year-old remains in good shape, it is still far from a closed deal.
“Friday is the day of real danger for Sam. It’s where Peter Sagan and Bora-Hansgrohe can really push him,” he said.
“A few days ago it seemed that he was suffering a lot in the mountain stages, he suffered like a dog as they say, but he recovered well and now he seems to have the advantage, but it is not over yet.”
Having suffered on his previous two Tours, Kelly said Bennett has shown great stamina in keeping the green jersey for nine days with the finish line in sight.
“He has done a Giro, he has done a Vuelta, but the Tour is always a bit more difficult. It is a step forward and he has mentioned it too.
“It looks great and it looks good to wear the shirt.”
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