La Vuelta 2022: ‘Give the man whatever he wants!’ – Sam Bennett pleads for new wheel after puncture

Sam Bennett’s hunt for a hat-trick of victories at La Vuelta was derailed by a puncture on Stage 4.

The Irishman (Bora–Hansgrohe) took sprint victories on Stage 2 and Stage 3 during the Dutch gran salida and was again in the mix as the kilometres ticked down on the run from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Laguardia on Tuesday.

However, he was spotted gesticulating wildly at the team cars after picking up a puncture with 33.5km remaining. Bennett was already frustrated after finishing fifth in the intermediate sprint as Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) took the spoils, with the Irishman potentially hampered by his mechanical.

“Give the man a feed or whatever he wants. Sam Bennett is not at peace with himself,” said Carlton Kirby in the Eurosport commentary box.

Sean Kelly chimed in: “It looks like he’s urgently calling the car.

“We’re getting into the [difficult] terrain now, if he’s thinking of going all the way then he has to get back to the front of the peloton.”

It was not an easy fix. By the time help arrived from Bora, and Bennett was back on his bike, the peloton had disappeared up the road – ruling him out of the finale.

Victory, plus the 13 bonus seconds picked up en route to Laguardia, catapulted the Slovenian (Jumbo-Visma) into the leader’s jersey.

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