An Post man Sam takes second in Britain

Ireland’s Sam Bennett took a brilliant second place on Stage Two of the Tour of Britain yesterday, only pipped on the line by Gerald Ciolek of Team MTN-Qhubeka.

Bennett, riding for the An Post Chainreaction team, looked to have done enough when he blasted out of a fragmented peloton on the drag up to the finish in Kendal.

The Carrick-on-Suir rider caught and passed Thomas Löfkvist of IAM Cycling, who had attacked earlier, and with less than 250 metres to go looked set to take the biggest win of his life.

But Ciolek, this year’s winner of Milan San-Remo, hunted down Bennett and whipped around him to take the win just before the finish line.

The day was a gruelling one from start to finish and the rain poured down throughout the 187 kilometre journey from Carlisle, which featured a number of stinging climbs.

Bennett’s teammate, Sean Downey, showed his intent early on, by being part of the day’s breakaway group that had over three minutes on the peloton at one stage.

Dan Martin (Garmin-SHARP) boosted nthat break’s chances when jumped across with less than 60 kilometre to go, but with Team Sky sensing danger, they chased down the leaders out front and the race was all back together before the finish.

That paved the way for Löfkvist to try his luck and he nearly pulled off a fine solo win, only to be reeled in late on.

Meanwhile, American Chris Horner has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the wake of a missed drug test after his Vuelta A Espana win on Sunday.

The Radioshack-Leopard rider had updated his whereabouts correctly, contrary to reports, and that the missed drug test was due to a timing issue between the U.S. and Spain. It will not count as a missed test, and Horner is exonerated from all malevolence.

The news that Horner wasn’t tested yesterday morning, as intended by authorities, was leaked to the media, and quickly made waves in an era of hefty cynicism when it comes to athletic performance.