Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the opening stage of the 2017 Tour of Slovenia with a powerful sprint in Kocevje.
The Irishman, who came close on a number of occasions at last month’s Giro d’Italia, got the better of Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and Luca Mezgec (Orica-Scott) after a strong lead-out from his Bora-Hansgrohe team.
Mark Cavendish, making his first racing appearance since March after suffering from Epstein Barr Virus, declined to sprint. His Dimension Data teammates took control of the peloton in the final few kilometres but Bora took over in the final kilometre and Cavendish free-wheeled across the line in 10th place.
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The 159.5km stage presented an early difficulty in the form of the second-category Crni Kal climb but was largely flat thereafter, giving the sprinters’ teams plenty of opportunity to bring back the nine-man break.
The last of them was caught with eight kilometres to go, and Dimension Data’s presence at the front of the bunch raised expectations that Cavendish might silence the doubts that abound over his Tour de France participation. But it was Bora who took over and delivered Bennett to a convincing victory. Bennett now pulls on the first green leader’s jersey of the race.
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