Tad different Tour given a quick finish by Bennett
SAM BENNETT took victory on the Champs-Elysees in Paris after securing the green jersey on the final stage of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar rolled home in yellow to cap a remarkable closing weekend to a race many feared would never happen.
Bennett beat world champion Mads Pedersen in a sprint finish to take his second stage win of the Tour, having already wrapped up the points classification at the intermediate sprint of the 122km stage from Mantes-la-Jolie.
He becomes the first Irishman to win a major jersey at a Grand Tour since Sean Kelly won green at the Tour for the fourth and final time in 1989.
‘I can’t tell you how excited I am,’ said Bennett. ‘The green jersey and the Champs-Elysees, the world championships of sprinting. I never thought I’d be able to win this stage and to do it in green is so special.
‘And to do it too with my dream team, Deceuninck-QuickStep – the way the boys rode all day was fantastic. It’s just so amazing the feeling, I can’t thank everyone enough.’
Green was the only classification still to be decided after Pogacar’s incredible ride in Saturday’s time trial saw the Slovenian secure the yellow jersey as well as the King of the Mountains’ and the best young rider’s jerseys on his Tour debut.
Pogacar, who turns 22 today, converted a 57-second deficit to compatriot Primoz Roglic into a 59-second lead in an extraordinary performance which gave a Tour delayed almost two months by the coronavirus pandemic one of its most dramatic conclusions in history.
‘It’s unbelievable, crazy,’ Pogacar said. ‘Even if I would have come second or last, it wouldn’t matter, it would still be nice to be here but this is just the top of the top, I cannot describe this feeling with words.’