Tipperary’s Sam Bennett wins stage 3 of the Tour of Spain

The Bora Hansgrohe sprinter from Carrick on Suir was a couple of bike lengths clear of his nearest challengers in the bunch sprint which decided stage 3 of the three week grand tour.

Second on the 188 kilometre stage to Alicante went to Edward Theuns of Trek Segafredo with Luka Mezgec of Mitchelton-Scott in third.

It’s the 12th victory of the season for Bennett who has already notched up stage wins in Paris – Nice, Tour of Turkey, Binckbank Tour and the Irish National Championships among others this year.

Fellow Irish man Nicolas Roche has retained the leaders red jersey with a 2-second lead over Nairo Quintana.