“It was amazing,” Bennett said of stage 6 and his first-ever day in the Škoda Green Jersey. “Kind of funny at times, sometimes people thought I was Peter. They’re not used to it. It was a lovely experience, I also heard my name being shouted a lot. Got a lot of support and all the lovely messages from people at home last night, to see the support I have from the Irish fans is great.”
Bennett is now developing a plan for the points competition on the go and he found out that the Škoda Green Jersey is really not an easy target.
“It’s actually hard work to try and get this jersey,” the Deceuninck–Quick-Step rider explained. “There are three parts to watch: who gets in the break, who’s going for the intermediate and then to do the final. It’s very hard and I might start feeling it in the last week but we’ll take it day-by-day and I’ll try and go again tomorrow.”
The seven-time winner of the points competition is not to be disregarded, though. Peter Sagan sits in the second place now, trailing only 12 points. And Bennett is counting on the Slovak’s experience to show in the final week of the Tour. Sagan already wore the jersey through stages 3, 4 and 5. And while he doesn’t seem to be on top of his form right now, Bennett rightly points towards the length of the Grande Boucle.
Who do you think will don the Škoda Green Jersey on the Champs-Élysées? Will it be the Irishman or the Slovak? Or someone else entirely? Let us know.
The Points Classification after stage six
1. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) 129 pts
2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 117 pts
3. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) 93 pts
4. Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) 75 pts
5. Matteo Trentin (CCC Team) 71 pts
6. Bryan Coquard (B &B Hotels–Vital Concept) 70 pts
7. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) 64 pts
8. Cees Bol (Team Sunweb) 62 pts
9. Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling Team) 61 pts
10. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) 56 pts
