The last day in Israel was dominated by a breakaway, which was gone for most of the stage, as the group was caught, with 5km remaining, the expected bunch sprint was set up. BORA – hansgrohe started to organize their lead-out train to bring Sam Bennett in a good position, but it was again E. Viviani who took the stage win. BORA – hansgrohe sprinter Sam finished, like yesterday, in third place.
The Stage
The third and last stage in Israel was another chance for the sprinters in the peloton. The race travelled to the city of Be´er Sheva, which is one of the biggest cities in Israel, and started into the 229km long flat stage with the finish in the city of Eilat. The route took a long way across a rocky landscape with two intermediate sprints and one categorised climb (fourth category). The final part of the stage descended slightly towards the Red Sea and entered the city, where 11 roundabouts awaited the peloton, before the sprinters could fight for the stage win.
The Team Tactics
After yesterday´s great result, the Irish sprinter Sam was hungry to achieve again a podium result. Therefore, the team focused again to supported him as best as possible. Like yesterday, the final lead-out train consisted of Andreas Schillinger, Christoph Pfingsten and last lead-out man Rudi Selig. In today´s stage it needed a strong sprint train, wind in the final km´s made the race difficult.
The Race
A three-man breakaway escaped relatively early into the 229km stage and built up an ample gap of more than 6 minutes. The breakaway of the day was gone for most of the stage, with 80km to go, the group enjoyed still a gap of more than three minutes. With the gap dropping steadily, the three escapes were caught with 5km remaining and the expected bunch sprint was set up. Like yesterday, BORA – hansgrohe took the lead of the peloton and did a stellar job to protect their leader Sam Bennett. As approaching the finale corner, the BORA – hansgrohe sprinter started his sprint a little bit too early, it was again E. Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) who took the win. S. Modolo (UAE) took second place and Sam crossed the line, like yesterday, in third place.
Results
01 E. Viviani 5:02:09
02 S. Modolo +0:00
03 S. Bennett +0:00
From the Finish Line
“First, I want to thank my teammates for another great job today. They worked very hard in this long stage. As we headed into the finale, I started my sprint way too early and Viviani was able to overtake me and took another stage win. I finished third, another podium but of course the victory would have been great.”- Sam Bennett
“We went into the stage with a good plan and all boys worked hard during the stage, unfortunately it didn’t pay off. But I think the stages for Sam will come pretty soon, after a long period of training he is in a good mood and shape. Nevertheless, I think it isn’t a shame to lose against Viviani, he was the fastest and maybe the smartest today.” – Christian Pömer, sport director
