Ireland’s Sam Bennett won stage three of the Vuelta a Espana when coming out on top in a sprint finish. The third and final Grand Tour of the season is turning out to be one for the Irish as fellow countryman Nicolas Roche also leads the general classification and remains in the Red jersey.
Bennett was the hot favourite to win the stage and timed his sprint to perfection to comfortably beat Edward Theuns and Luka Mezgec to pick up his maiden Vuelta win. It is also the fourth time he has picked up a stage win at a Grand Tour and speaking afterwards expressed his relief. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am,” said Bennett. “I can’t tell you how bad my legs were in the stage.
“Thanks to the team today I could relax and follow them, trust them to get me in the right place at the right time. If it wasn’t for the team effort today, I definitely wouldn’t have got it. “I’m delighted to get another Grand Tour victory, especially wearing the Irish national champions jersey.” Roche retains the leader’s red jersey, remaining two seconds ahead of 2016 Vuelta winner Nairo Quintana.
