Sam Bennett delighted after sealing stunning treble

Ireland’s Sam Bennett made it a hat-trick of wins at the Tour of Turkey with victory on stage three in Marmaris yesterday.

Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won a sprint at the end of the 128.6-kilometres route from Fethiye to follow up his wins in Kemer on Tuesday and Fethiye on Wednesday.

Belgium’s Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) was second to Bennett for a second successive day.

Italy’s Simone Consonni (UAE-Team Emirates) was third.

Bennett leads the general classification standings in the race, which concludes on Sunday in Istanbul.

“I’m delighted, After the first stage I was wondering, can I get another,” Bennett said.

“After the second, I was like, two in a row, I’ll be lucky to get another one, and here I am.

“I couldn’t have dreamed of this. I’m absolutely delighted. Since Cyclassics Hamburg, for some reason I set this race as a target. I wanted good results here. I was supposed to end my season at Munsterland, but I said to my team, ‘can I do Turkey?’ I’m normally motivated and good in the late season, I wanted to get some results. And we’re actually doing it.”

Key to Bennett’s victory was staying in contact with a rapidly-thinning bunch on the uphill close to the finish. “It was a hard last climb,” he explained.

“I really didn’t know how I would react. I saved everything for it, I tried to keep a good position. I saw a bit of a split happening at the top and I tried to close it early.

"When I was a teenager, my coach then said it’s always better to close a gap early.”