Sam Bennett sprints to stage three win and doubles up at Vuelta a España

The Bora-Hansgrohe rider Sam Bennett won stage three of the Vuelta a España, his second consecutive victory of the race, with a commanding sprint finish in the Dutch city of Breda.

The Irishman appeared to be out of contention following a final right-hand bend inside the final kilometre, with Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) seemingly perfectly positioned after a strong lead-out from his teammates.

But a long, straight drag to the finish line at the end of a pan-flat 193.5km loop around Breda afforded Bennett time to accelerate past his rivals and prove he is the most powerful finisher at the season’s final grand tour. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was second and Dan McLay (Arkéa-Samsic) was third.

Edoardo Affini will wear the overall leader’s red jersey on Tuesday’s stage four following Jumbo-Visma’s team time trial success on Friday.

“It was quite a hard fight and the boys, again, what can I say?” said Bennett. “Big thank you for the commitment. The boys were looking after me in the bunch all day, giving me bottles when it was hard.

“Today wasn’t hard “Vuelta-wise”, but there was a lot of accelerations out of corners all day, it was a really nervous day, but again, the job they did in the final ... it was a masterclass. For it to happen two days in a row is quite nice. This is confidence-boosting, for sure.”

Bennett was overlooked by his team for Tour de France selection this year, and has been linked with a move elsewhere, but this pair of wins – his ninth and 10th at grand tours – may change the picture.

Bennett has won two stages at the Tour de France and three at the Giro d’Italia and is the second Irishman, after Sean Kelly, to achieve 10 grand tour stage wins.

It had been a nervous and high-paced day in the