Tour de France 2020: Sam Bennett claims first stage win as Primoz Roglic retains lead
- Published
Sam Bennett is making his third appearance on the Tour having made his debut in 2015
Ireland's Sam Bennett won stage 10 of the Tour de France as Primoz Roglic retained the leader's yellow jersey.
Bennett, 29, edged out Australia's Caleb Ewan in a sprint finish to give the Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider his first stage win on the Tour.
Roglic safely negotiated the flat 168.5km route from Ile d'Oleron Le Chateau-d'Oleron to Ile de Re Saint-Martin-de-Re to retain the lead.
The Slovenian remains 21 seconds ahead of defending champion Egan Bernal.
"You dream of it and never think it will happen," an emotional Bennett told ITV4. "It hasn't hit me at all yet."
"Oh man, I was waiting to go and I thought I might have left it too late. I thought he might have got me."
Bennett's victory saw him become the sixth Irishman to win a stage at the Tour de France and ensured he now has stage wins at all three of cycling's Grand Tours.
He won three at the Giro d'Italia in 2018 and two at the Vuelta a Espana in 2019, but this was the race that he had set his sights on after leaving Bora-Hansgrohe to join Belgian team Quick-Step in December.
The Irish sprinter, who kept out of trouble on a hectic day that featured several crashes, also regained the green jersey from seven-time points classification winner Peter Sagan.
Earlier on Tuesday, riders from all 22 teams were cleared to start the stage after race director Christian Prudhomme and members of staff from four teams tested positive for Covid-19.
French health authorities and race organisers Amaury Sport Organisation have said that if two members of a team test positive, the team would be excluded.
Wednesday's 11th stage sees the race travel the relatively flat 167.5km route from Chatelaillon-Plage to Poitiers.
Stage 10 results
1. Sam Bennett (Ire/Deceuninck-Quick-Step) 3hrs 35mins 22secs
2. Caleb Ewan (Aus/Lotto Soudal) Same time
3. Peter Sagan (Slo/Bora-Hansgrohe)
4. Elia Viviani (Ita/Cofidis)
5. Mads Pedersen (Den/Trek-Segafredo)
6. Andre Griepel (Ger/Israel Start-Up Nation)
7. Bryan Coquard (Fra/B&B Hotels-Vital Concept)
8. Cees Bol (Ned/Sunweb)
9. Jasper Stuyen (Bel/Trek-Segafredo)
10. Luka Mezgec (Slo/Mitchelton-Scott)
General classification
1. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) 42hrs 15mins 23secs
2. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) +21secs
3. Guillaume Martin (Fra/Cofidis) +28secs
4. Romain Bardet (Fra/AG2R-La Mondiale) +30secs
5. Nairo Quintana (Col/Arkea-Samsic) +32secs
6. Rigoberto Uran (Col/EF Pro Cycling) Same time
7. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE-Team Emirates) +44secs
8. Adam Yates (GB/Mitchelton-Scott) +1mins 02secs
9. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col/Astana) +1mins 15secs
10. Mikel Landa (Spa/Bahrain McLaren) +1mins 42secs
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