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Sam Bennett finished eighth on stage 19 of the Tour de France, nearly sealing victory in the points standings before Sunday’s final stage, while Primoz Roglic retained the yellow jersey.
Bennett crossed the line just ahead of Peter Sagan and Matteo Trentin to narrowly extend his lead in the green jersey race.
The Carrick-on-Suir rider was part of a strong getaway with 15km to run on a fast and undulating stage 19 from Bourge-en-Bresse to Champagnole.
But Bennett’s green jersey rivals Sagan and Trentin were also at halftime, looking to regain rider Deceuninck-QuickStep’s lead, which he had narrowly extended in the previous intermediate sprint.
“A really tough day,” was Bennett’s assessment of the 166.5km stage.
“I had to focus on keeping my advantage over Peter.
“I have to finish tomorrow on time and then I think I will only feel safe after the intermediate sprint on Sunday.”
Touching the cushion he now enjoys, he added: “It is growing by the day but it is not finished yet.”
“Today was the most dangerous day, it was a critical day. I want to thank the team for the incredible work they did, and I think I even surpassed myself. I didn’t expect to be able to race like this.”
Bennett now has 319 points, 53 ahead of Sagan and 67 ahead of Trentin, with a time trial and final stage in Paris, and is set to become the first rider from these shores to win a Tour qualification since Sean Kelly. . He turned green for the fourth and final time in 1989. Accomplishing that feat will also end Sagan’s dominance in a standings where he has won a record seven times since 2012.
The Irishman won his first stage on the famous Grand Tour early in the race, claiming plenty of spring on stage 10.
The stage was won by Soren Kragh Andersen from Team Sunweb.
Team Sunweb’s Kragh Andersen attacked from the breakout and quickly distanced himself from his fellow runaways to return home alone.
“For the last kilometer I was yelling, ‘Can you confirm a minute?’ because I didn’t believe it, “Kragh Andersen said.
“Two victories on the same Tour, I am speechless. I could never have dreamed of better … These are memories for the rest of my life. I am super happy.”
Roglic has a 57-second margin over fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogacar in the overall standings after the peloton rolled more than six minutes from the stage winner.
The battle for yellow will now be resolved on Saturday at La Planche des Belles Filles.
Irishman Dan Martin finished 117th in the main group of drivers, with Nicolas Roche six places further behind.
Martin leads the Irish contingent in the overall standings at 41st, with Roche at 62nd and Bennett at 137th.
It’s the final sprint for those valuable points 💚, like 🇮🇪 @Sammmy_Be maintains its advantage over 🇸🇰 @petosagan, obtaining 10 and 8 points respectively.
🇮🇪 @Sammmy_Be manages to finish ahead 🇸🇰 @petosagan in the sprint and maintains its leadership in the points classification.# TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/0zhUAabO0a
– Tour de France ™ (@LeTour) September 18, 2020
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