Daniele Bennati finished third in Albi
The field slowly reached the foot of the Pyrenees, and on today’s 202-kilometer seventh stage of the Tour de France went from Montpellier to Albi. On the hilly course with four categorized climbs were several great sprinters including Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma Quick Step), Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) and André Greipel (Lotto-BELISOL),
Peter Sagan’s Cannondale team tried to keep the pace high. During the ongoing power struggle between the sprinters, they did not manage to get to where where Cannondale and Orica Green Edge held a high pace, and therefore Cavendish, Greipel and Kittel could not to participate in the upcoming finish sprint.
Saxo-Tinkoff aimed to get safely through before tomorrow’s first mountain stage, but Daniele Bennati was still pulled a good result in the sprint, where he finished third after Peter Sagan Cannondale and John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano).
“I was really good in the sprint after a hard stage. I had a puncture at the bottom of the last climb before the goal, and I really suffered in pursuit of the field and not least all the way to the finish line, now I’m happy to get on the podium, “said Daniele Bennati.
Also sports director Dan Frost was pleased with today’s result: “The first priority was to bring Alberto safely through the stage, which was successful. In addition, there would be a good opportunity for a good result for Daniele. He took the good wheels by Sagan and got pulled a third place finish, which gives morale going forward. It was a somewhat atypical stage of the fight between the sprinter teams midway, but it is an obvious good idea to put competitors in checkmate even before the finish line, if the opportunity is there.”
