It wasn't even close! Dominant finish from Bennett, to claim his second stage win of #UAETour 2021 @AbuDhabiSC @DubaiSC pic.twitter.com/lK8Ib2W3S5
— UAE Tour Official (@uae_tour) February 26, 2021
IRELAND’S SAM BENNETT won the penultimate stage six of cycling’s UAE Tour today, confirming his early season form to claim his second victory at the Palm Jumeirah Island finish with ease.
After Thursday’s possibly decisive 20km uphill finish, the overall race leader Tadej Pogacar was able to take it easy on the run around Dubai, leaving the glory to the sprint specialists while he maintained his advantage finishing with the main pack.
Bennett beat Italian ace Elia Viviani into second and the German Bora man Pascal Ackermann came third.
The smiley Irishman, who cried after his first Tour de France stage win last season, can bag a hat-trick of wins tomorrow on the seventh and final stage which also looks perfect for his strengths. The 30-year-old said he would certainly go for it.
“We’re pretty much nailing it at the minute,” said Bennett. “I really want stage seven and we’ll for sure go for it again on Saturday.”
And it’s @Sammmy_Be again for his 2nd stage victory ☘️ pic.twitter.com/Chi21LtheI
— UAE Tour Official (@uae_tour) February 26, 2021
The Slovenian Pogacar goes into stage seven with a 45-second lead on last year’s champion Adam Yates, with Portuguese rookie Joao Almeida in third at 1 minute, 12 seconds.
The 13-strong peloton headed into strong winds with the temperature at 25C for the 165km run around Dubai, but the blustery weather did not create any breaks in the main pack.
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey look ahead to Italy-Ireland, discuss Joey Carbery’s positional future with province and country, and try to figure out what happens next with the postponed France-Scotland fixture:
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Mcdaids performance should be lauded the same way as Clifford’s and Walsh’s. Actually think mcdaid should get player of the year.
@Barry Newell: Mcdaid was unbelievable yesterday, MOTM for me.
@Barry Newell: Yes indeed, I’ve watched McDaid since the CShip started, He was excellent in every match . Scored Four points yesterday from Midfield- he is a powerhouse . Just a pity they have a habit of giving Man of the Match to the winning side. There was a case for JOINT Man of the Match there yesterday , — Walsh gave an exhibition .
I think everyone was expecting Kerry to annihilate Galway yesterday BUT Galway were brilliant. They might have been second best but that only happened when things began to unravel near the end. They have the tools and talent and have obviously bonded well that it is now only a matter of working on the finer points of the game before they start collecting several Sam’s over the coming years. As a Dub, I cannot help but admire the resilience of that Kerry team and even though they beat Galway and Dublin, in the game of the year, given their ‘resources’, I expected them to be more convincing against both Congratulations to both Kerry and Galway on a brilliant game and the real winners in the future will be the fans. I hope the Ulster teams will learn from these displays, get rid of ‘ possession football’ and incorporate the hidden skills they obviously have.
@Barrycelona: an Ulster team won Sam just 11 months ago or did that slip your mind
@Barrycelona: it might have Been because I was hungover but I thought the game was crap. Virtually no atmosphere for long periods and possession seemed to be what we were watching for the most part. Soft fouls as well are terrible to watch. I hate to back up hurling snobs but it’s such a better game to watch now.
Walsh was clear MOTM match IMO – even better than brilliant Clifford
Mayo next year me thinks?
Barrycelona Kerry had 14 men in their own half for much of the game it appears that they have adopted the Ulster way. One very bad Refereeing decision yesterday at a vital time in the game.
@Kevin Byrne: 2 very bad decisions in quick succession. Both teams scored from the frees so evened out.
A dour affair, we were all spoiled by the silky skills of the Dublin six-in-a-row team. Maybe next year.
@Jim O’Sullivan: are ya catching much lately Jim. Great time for fishing.
Rule is 4 steps – 7 or 8 by Walsh for one great point that should have been disallowed