Tipperary cyclist Sam Bennett made it an unlikely hat-trick on Thursday by winning the third stage of the Tour of Turkey.
Bennett's win into the city of Marmaris, comes after wins in the first stages on Tuesday and Wednesday. He is the first cyclist to win three stages in a row of any race on the World Tour in 2017. Last week he was also victorious in the lesser-ranked Munsterland Giro in Germany.
Sam Bennett is the only rider who has won three stages in a row in the WorldTour in 2017.@Sammmy_Be
— Cillian Kelly (@irishpeloton) October 12, 2017
Wearing the leader's blue jersey, Bennett won a sprint finish on Thursday afternoon to maintain his lead in the General Classification. He also holds the green jersey for the Points Classification.
'Genius at work!' ???@Sammmy_Be makes it 3️⃣ stage wins in a row at the Tour of Turkey #TUR2017 pic.twitter.com/iBuY3ZPGxi
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) October 12, 2017
With mountain stages to come, Bennett is unlikely to hold onto the blue jersey, but his three wins in a row caps off a great year for the Bora-Hansgrohe cyclist.
Bennett joined the German team at the start of the season, but saw opportunities limited by the arrival of World Champion Peter Sagan. The Slovakian sprinter is widely regarded as the best in the world.
Despite not featuring in the Tour de France like he did last year, he had a successful year including stage wins at Paris-Nice, the Tour of Slovakia and the Czech Cycling Tour.
Not one - not two - THREE!!! @Sammmy_Be also wins stage 3 @tourofturkeyTUR 👏🏻👏🏻👌🏻 #justperfect #amazing pic.twitter.com/Cxqb2NEF3J
— BORA – hansgrohe (@BORAhansgrohe) October 12, 2017
