Vuelta a Espana: Sam Bennett takes crucial stage win on opening bunch sprint

BORA - hansgrohe took the gamble to bring Sam Bennett to the Vuelta a Espana, and the Irishman has succeeded on his first attempt as he won the sprint in Breda with the help of a strong leadout.

The opening breakaway of the race saw Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Julius van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), Pau Miquel (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa Samsic) go up the road. The EF Education rider crossed the KOM point in front and became the first leader of the classification.

The breakaway was caught very early on with 59 kilometers to go as the riders had little reason to stay in front. Shortly after Luis Ángel Maté went on the attack to give Euskaltel some more exposure, but was eventually reeled in with 29 kilometers to go as the teams anticipated the intermediate sprint - where Mads Pedersen crossed first.

A couple of crashes disrupted the calm in the peloton, however a bunch sprint was clear into the final kilometers. Several leadouts had the position at the front, but it was Danny van Poppel who once again thrived in the leadout, delivering Sam Bennett to his biggest win of the season. He beat Mads Pedersen in a tightly disputed sprint with Tim Merlier finishing third. As a result of his fourth place, Mike Teunissen is the new leader of the race.