Sam Bennett wins Clásica de Almería
Netapp rider takes first professional win
23-year-old Irishman Sam Bennett (Team NetApp – Endura) claimed his first professional win by out sprinting Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Davide Vigano (Caja Rural) at the Clásica de Almería. The 29th edition of the race at 178 kilometres saw a break of seven riders get away but their advantage never went above 2:30 minutes. The break was caught with 50km to race and with 20km to race the winning break, which included four NetApp Endura riders, went away and built a one minute on the chasing peloton.
"The guys got me perfectly to about 600m to go. I was well position in the last corner. I had to go at 250m because the pace dropped. I came around everyone and took the inside line. At 100m to go my legs started to buckle and I thought I wasn't going to make it. But luckily I did," Sam Bennett said after his first professional win.
"I am so happy to have taken my first win as a pro with Team NetApp – Endura. It was a very nice race today great weather and great roads. Movistar set a nice hard tempo on the climbs and split it in the final with cross winds. It was good for me because it tired everyone else out and got rid of other sprinters. I want to thank all of my team mates who helped me every single chance they got. They really made my job easier and for sure this result came as a result of great team work", Bennett said
"I am very happy with today's results. An early win is so important for motivating the team. Our guys put in a great team performance yesterday, and today they even managed to surpass that effort. Iker Camano, Tiago Machado, and Erick Rowsell aren't usually Sam's lead-out riders," said Alex Sans Vega, Sport Director of Team NetApp – Endura.
"That is why I am all the more pleased that everything worked so perfectly today and that Sam is able to rely on all of his teammates. I hope that we will be able to maintain this level, the atmosphere in the team and this racing style for our upcoming races," Vega said.
Once the gun was fired, riders were launching multiple attacks at the start of the race which formed the main break of seven after 15 kilometres. The peloton never lost control and after the final climb, 50 kilometres before the finish line, the field all came back together.
The breakaway riders were caught soon thereafter and the field headed towards the finish line as one. The day’s winning break group pulled away 20 kilometres before the finish line with 19 riders and with support from his three teammates, Sam Bennett was able to conserve valuable energy for the final kilometres and win the sprint.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Sam Bennett (Irl) Team Netapp - Endura | 4:21:33 |
2 | Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Davide Vigano (Ita) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Stéphane Poulhies (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:00:02 |
7 | Bartlomiej Matysiak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Tiago Machado (Por) Team Netapp - Endura | 0:00:06 |
10 | Davide Rebellin (Ita) CCC Polsat Polkowice | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Lukasz Bodnar (Pol) Activejet Team | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Luis Mas Bonet (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Team Netapp - Endura | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Erick Rowsell (GBr) Team Netapp - Endura | 0:00:13 |
18 | Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | 0:00:53 |
19 | Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:01:00 |
20 | Rafael Silva (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive | 0:02:42 |
21 | Carlos Ivan Oyarzun Guinez (Chi) Efapel - Glassdrive | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Filipe Duarte Sousa Cardoso (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | 0:02:44 |
24 | Lukasz Owsian (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Raul Alarcon Garcia (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Pawel Franczak (Pol) Activejet Team | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Víctor De La Parte (Spa) Efapel - Glassdrive | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Ibai Salas (Spa) Burgos-BH | 0:02:58 |
31 | Emanuel Piaskowy (Pol) Activejet Team | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Michal Podlaski (Pol) Activejet Team | 0:03:03 |
33 | Salvador Guardiola Tora (Spa) Pinoroad | 0:03:36 |
34 | Raul Garcia De Mateo Rubio (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | Martin Lestido (Spa) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Micael Isidoro (Por) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Victor Martin Hernandez (Spa) Burgos-BH | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Edwig Cammaerts (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | José Joao Pimenta Costa Mendes (Por) Team Netapp - Endura | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Carlos Barbero Cuesta (Spa) Euskadi | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Vicente Garcia De Mateos Rubio (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | Miguel Minguez Ayala (Spa) Euskadi | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team Netapp - Endura | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Frantisek Padour (Cze) Team Netapp - Endura | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Higinio Fernandez (Spa) Team Ecuador | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Bruno Duarte Ferreira Silva (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | Yohan Bagot (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Branislau Samoilau (Blr) CCC Polsat Polkowice | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Adrian Honkisz (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Jorge Martin Montenegro (Arg) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Ruben Fernandez (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | José Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Grzegorz Stepniak (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice | 0:05:32 |
57 | Tomasz Mickiewicz (Pol) Activejet Team | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
58 | Samuel Nicolás (Spa) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
59 | Francisco Javier Moreno Allue (Spa) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Rui Vinhas (Por) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Eugeniu Cozonac (Mda) Louletano - Dunas Douradas | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Haritz Orbe Urrutia (Spa) Euskadi | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Spa) Euskadi | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Bayron Guama De La Cruz (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Pablo Lechuga Rodriguez (Spa) Euskadi | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Romain Hardy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Jaume Rovira Pous (Spa) Team Ecuador | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Mario Gonzalez Salas (Spa) Activejet Team | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Igor Merino Cortazar (Spa) Burgos-BH | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Illart Zuazubiskar Gallastegi (Spa) Euskadi | 0:13:55 |
72 | Ricardo Mestre (Por) Efapel - Glassdrive | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Federico Butto (Ita) Burgos-BH | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Marcos Altur Boronat (Spa) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Henry Marcelo Velasco Cevallos (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
76 | Isaac Carbonell Rabat (Spa) Team Ecuador | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Spa) Efapel - Glassdrive | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
78 | Konrad Dabkowski (Pol) Activejet Team | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Jose Ragonessi (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
80 | Unai Arranz Alonso (Spa) Burgos-BH | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
81 | Segundo Navarrete (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
82 | Álvaro Martínez (Spa) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | Mikel Aristi Gardoki (Spa) Euskadi | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
84 | Imanol Estévez (Spa) | 0:15:45 |
DNF | Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Ramon Domene Reyes (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Diego Leon Cuervo Zambraro (Spa) Burgos-BH | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Ander Arranz Alonso (Spa) Burgos-BH | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Alvaro Cuadros Morata (Spa) Etixx | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Antonio Jesus Soto (Spa) | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Diego Rubio (Spa) Efapel - Glassdrive | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Pablo Miguel Hidalgo Vega (Ecu) Team Ecuador | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Slawomir Chrzanowski (Pol) Activejet Team | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
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