Ewan pips Bennett to double stage win tally and targets a third in Paris
● Irishman foiled but green jersey lead increases as Sagan is penalised
Caleb Ewan snatched his second sprint victory of this year’s Tour de France as Sam Bennett’s hold on the points leader’s green jersey was strengthened by a penalty for Peter Sagan after a scrappy end to stage 11 in Poitiers.
Bennett could not repeat what was his first career Tour stage win 24 hours earlier in Ile de Re as he swapped places on the podium with Ewan, his third place on the road being upgraded to second after Sagan was punished for barging his way past JumboVisma’s Wout Van Aert, who was promoted to third.
It was a hectic end to the 167.5 km stage from Chat el aill on-P la ge, which saw no change in the general classiciation as Primoz Roglic continues to lead by 21 seconds from defending champion Egan Bernal.
In the sprint, Van Aer t lit it up early before he was shoved out of the way by the charging S ag an, while Ewan had the speed to round Bennett before the line.
Van Aer t said: “For me, it’s not allowed to do that.
“It was already dangerous enough and I was really surprised and shocked at the moment I felt something. I was already at maximum effort so I was really scared.
“I was shocked, surprised and angry so I don’ t really use nice words towards him. Afterwards I tried to say to him that I didn’t like what he was doing, but the only thing that came back was other strong words.”
S ag an, relegated to 85 th, accepted the penalty .“I had the speed and, in the sprint, I tried to go on the right side,” the former world champion said. “I passed one rider easily, but then it got really narrow. I had to move to avoid the barriers and as a result, I got relegated. This cost me a lot of points but I still have not abandoned the fight for the green jersey.”
The photo finish for second between Sagan and Bennett became irrelevant once commissaries had studied the footage again,
Bennett said :“I don’t really know what happened.
“It was just so hectic. (The team) did a fantastic job of looking after me, it’s justin the finale it was hard to switch from following a team-mate to going it alone, and I found myself too far forward too early. It was a bit late to drift back, it was just a complete mess. I tried to limit my losses and get the best result I could.”
The Deceuninck-quick-step rider was hoping to repeat the victory of fellow Irishman Sean Kelly the last time a Tour stage finished in Poitiers, but instead saw his chances of repeating one of Kelly’s four overall victories in the points classification increase.
If Sagan’s second place had stood Bennett’ s lead would have been down to 15 points, but, with the penalty applied, it grew to 68 – 243 to 175.
Sagan points classification every year since 2012 with the exception of 2017, when a crash with Mark Cavendish saw him disqualified and sent home.
Now another penalty could cost him an eighth crown in the competition, though the race is heading back to the high ground where he has made a speciality of getting into breaks and scooping up significant points in the intermediates prints–many of which come before the biggest climbs.
Bennett added: “I don’t know how long I can hold this green jersey. The race is going to get harder and harder, but we will see how it goes.”
Victory for Lotto-Soudal’ s Ewan followed his success on stage three to Sisteron. He said: “I just had a real desire to win today after yesterday and I’m happy to repay my team-mates with the win. I’m super happy with two stage wins but now I want the third one in Paris.”
The road will now begin to ramp up again.
Today’s rolling stage 12 to Sarran Correze could be one for a breakaway before the mountains beckon again.”