It was a day for the fast men on the rapid finish into Breda, with the sprint trains looming at the finish to fight for the perfect position for their chosen sprinter. No squad got it perfectly set-up, but a late surge from Danny van Poppel saw Sam Bennett arrive into the final 250 metres with speed, and the Irishman powered on to win a tight sprint from Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Dan McClay (Arkea-Samsic).
“It was quite hard because I think a lot of people were fighting for our wheel,” said Bennett. “I think it is just a natural flow that people start to go up beside me and squeeze me off, so I had a few tough moments just to hold Danny’s wheel. So, it was quite a hard fight.
“The boys again, what can I say… Jonas [Koch] riding all day … a big thank you for the commitment. The boys looking after me in the bunch all day, they gave me bottles when it was hard.
“It wasn’t a hard day watts-wise, but there were a lot of accelerations out of the corners all the day, a really nervous day. Again, the job they did in the final … Jonas, even though he was riding all day, came back and did another big turn. Ryan [Mullen] kept us up there, taking so much wind, and then Danny … it was a masterclass.”
A breakaway group of seven riders was caught with 11.4km remaining and then it was up to the sprint teams. A late crash for Richard Carapaz caused a scare for the race favourite but he was able to return with the help of his teammates.
Trek-Segafredo took up the pace-setting as the teams jostled for front position, and Alpecin then looked to take up the front spot before moving in behind Jumbo-Visma. The GC teams were in the mix until the crucial 3km to go mark, and from there Alpecin looked to reassert control, before getting swamped by UAE ahead of a 90-degree right-hand turn with a kilometre to go.
BORA-hansgrohe's Ryan Mullen found himself at the front but he'd lost his teammates, so he pulled off immediately, forcing UAE to lead out early and giving Bennett a chance to come from behind.
As Ackermann launched the sprint from 300 metres to go, Bennett was being led up the other side by Van Poppel. Ackermann faded and McLay hit the front, but Bennett was coming with more speed and was able to secure a second successive win.
The overall race lead changed as Jumbo-Visma continued to pass the red jersey around the team after their opening day team time trial success, transferring the overall lead of the race from Mike Teunissen to Edoardo Affini. The team is mostly tied on time at the top of the standings, with the jersey being awarded based on stage placings. Overnight leader Teunissen, despite placing an impressive fourth on stage 2, opted not to sprint, with Affini placing 20th to take the jersey after working to keep his GC rider, Primož Roglič, out of trouble.
La Vuelta is on a rest day as the riders fly from the Netherlands to Spain, with racing recommencing on Tuesday evening Australian time. Watch from 11pm AEST on SBS and SBS On Demand for all the action as the peloton hits the hills for the first time in the race.
