Sam Bennett signals final intention to win the green in Paris

It was singled out as the last possible threat to Sam Bennett winning the green jersey at this year’s Tour de France, and instead the end of stage 19 at Champagnole became a mere affirmation. The last stop is surely already ready for the Champs Elysees on Sunday.

It turned out to be another day for a double stage winner as well, and while Bennett was right in contention for that award in the final 20km, it was Soren Kragh Andersen who broke the 12-rider breakaway front to claim victory. , as he did in the final of stage 14 last Saturday in Lyon, a third stage victory for his Team Sunweb.

Bennett crossed the line just over a minute ago, in eighth place, giving himself a soft punch and a not-so-soft roar of pleasure, satisfaction, and relief all rolled into one. They call Champagnole the Pearl of the Jura and it certainly felt brilliant for Bennett in the end.

“Yes, I am very happy with myself that I stayed so strong that day, I have not broken, I was very happy about that,” he said. “I know there is still a lot to do, but again today was a crucial day.

“We continue to advance day by day, it is not finished yet, but today was the most dangerous day, the most critical day. I just want to thank the team again for the amazing job they did, to be honest I think I even got over it today, I didn’t expect to be able to set the stage like this.

Having gained another point from his Slovak rival Peter Sagan in the intermediate sprint at Mournans, who reached the end of the 166.5km from Bourg-en-Bresse to Champagnole, Bennett made sure to win a couple more at the end, that eighth. place on the line, again just ahead of Sagan, worth another two points to his account

That leaves the Irish rider 55 points ahead, 319 to Sagan’s 264, and Italian Matteo Trentin remains third with his 250. No sprint points on Saturday’s penultimate stage, the 36km time trial at La Planches des Belles Filles, Bennett Solo will have to stand tall on his bike to the Champs Elysees on Sunday to get on the podium in the winners race after the final stage showdown.

Crucially, once those sprint intermediate points were in the bag, and Bennett found himself part of the 12-runner getaway heading for the final 25km, he and his Deceuninck-Quick Step teammate Dries Devenyns never let Sagan get off the wheel. The Bora-Hansgrohe driver at that time became isolated without any teammates; Bennett and Devenyns weren’t in the mood to help set the pace, either.

“I know, it must have been very frustrating for the other guys, and I apologize for that,” Bennett said. “But that’s more of a compliment for how strong the other guys are more than anything else, because that was the only way he could run.

“I was just trying to mark it [Sagan] as much as possible, and I know it must have been very frustrating for him and the other guys, but that’s the way I had to race today. Sagan wasn’t complaining, he knows the deal, and I’d do the same, I’d do my best to get him off the wheel. But there was no garbage collection or anything like that, it was all body language, that sort of thing.

“Even after that [breakaway], and it was lucky that we really got on, I had to completely forget about the stage, today it was all about the jersey. Obviously, if I had been there at the end, I would have gone to the stage, but when those points are gone and there is such a gap, it was just trying to keep the lead on the jersey.

Indeed, once Kragh Andersen made his break, with 16km to go, he quickly made a winning gap, the 26-year-old Dane finishing 53 seconds ahead of Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott), with Jasper Stuyven (Trek- Segfredo) third, Bennett finishing 1:02 behind.

“Two victories in the same Tour de France, I am speechless, I could never have dreamed of better,” said Kragh Andersen.

“When the group was there, they had the best riders in the world on mountainous terrain, and I thought ‘how can I beat these guys?’ The moment came after he [Trentin] I attacked very hard, and was also on the edge. I thought if I only had a little gap, they could look at each other, and that’s exactly what happened. That was my luck. “

Race leader Primoz Roglic was content to take things in hand before Saturday’s time trial, finishing in the main peloton, more than seven minutes behind, the Jumbo-Visma driver maintaining his 57-second lead over Tadej Pogacar from UAE Team Emirates, both Slovenian drivers. still at a safe distance from Miguel Ángel López, who remains third, 1:27 behind.

Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche also finished without problems in that main peloton, 7:38 less, Martin from Team Israel Start-Up Nation 117 ° and Roche also from Team Sunweb 123 °, and now they are placed 41st and 62nd overall. respectively.

There is some potential for the overall leaders to switch on the 36km uphill time trial to La Planches des Belles Filles, although Bennett can afford to sit down: “I wouldn’t say tomorrow is a day off, but a less stressful day. the head, yes. Today was about being mentally strong, really trying, just running my own race, within the race. So there is still a bit of work to be done, but getting closer to Paris. “

In fact, anything can still happen, Lukas Pöstlberger, also from Bora-Hansgrohe, left the stage early on after being bitten in the mouth by a wasp and needing medical assistance. Bennett knows he’s not in Paris yet, only affirmatively closer.