Sam Bennett took victory on the Champs-Elysees after securing the green jersey on the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris as Tadej Pogacar rolled home in yellow to cap a remarkable closing weekend.
The Carrick native beat world champion Mads Pedersen in a sprint finish to take his second stage win of the Tour, having already wrapped up the points classification at the intermediate sprint of the 122km stage from Mantes-la-Jolie.
Time to spare to raise his fist as he crossed the line.
Sam Bennett giving the entire country a lift.
You love, I repeat love, to see it. pic.twitter.com/AY7pfjQaGe— Rob O'Hanrahan (@RobOHanrahan) September 20, 2020
It made Bennett the first Irishman to win a major jersey at one of the three Grand Tours since Waterford's Sean Kelly won green at the Tour for the fourth and final time in 1989.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” Bennett said. “The green jersey and the Champs-Elysees, the world championships of sprinting. I never thought I’d be able to win this stage and to do it in green is so special.
"I never thought I'd ever be able to win this stage and to do it in green is so special."
Sam Bennett talks us through his win in Paris and how his team got him positioned perfectly in the finale pic.twitter.com/rG64plOGWK— ITV cykling 🇩🇰 (@itvcycling) September 20, 2020
“And to do it too with my dream team, Deceuninck-QuickStep – the way the boys rode all day was fantastic. It’s just so amazing the feeling, I can’t thank everyone enough.”
Congratulations have been flying in on social media, including a special message from President Michael D. Higgins.
“My congratulations to Sam Bennett, @Sammy_Be, on his win on the Champs Elysees today.
Winning two stages and the green jersey in one of the hardest Tours of recent years is an enormous achievement, and one that will be celebrated by all those who love cycling and Irish sport.”— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) September 20, 2020
Bennett launched his sprint early and briefly looked like he might be overhauled by the hard-chasing Pedersen, but he would not be denied in the race all sprinters want to win the most.
Peter Sagan took third place ahead of Alexander Kristoff and Elia Viviani.
Green was the only classification left to be determined after Pogacar’s incredible ride in Saturday’s time trial on La Planche des Belles Filles saw the Slovenian secure the yellow jersey as well as the King of the Mountains’ polka dots and the best young rider’s white on his Tour debut.
Going into the tour the battle was teed up between Bennett and his ex-team mate Peter Sagan – who has won 7 green jerseys on the Tour, but the Irish National Champion has proven to be too good for the Slovakian throughout.
Taking the Green jersey early on through some dogged work in the intermediate sprints, he later coughed the jersey up to his biggest rival – but having taken his first stage victory shortly after, the Carrick man once again claimed the green and has not let it go since.
There’s been hard work from his team mates throughout and none more so than during the heavy mountain stages where category 1 climbs posed a real challenge.
There is no doubt there will be celebrations in Carrick tonight, tune into WLR tomorrow to hear exclusive interviews from his family following his success. #WLRSport
