Sam Bennett met his match as he came up just short at the finish in one-day classic Scheldeprijs this afternoon.
The Deceuninck Quickstep rider just ran out of road late on as he finished half a bike's length behind Jasper Phillipsen in Flanders.
A win in the century-old classic signals the biggest victory of the 23-year-old's career, while Bennett and his teammates will go back to the drawing board as the cycling season heats up.
The Carrick-on-Suir man has already enjoyed a successful start to the season following a momentous 2020, taking a victory at the Classic Bruges-De Panne to follow up dual stage victories at both the UAE Tour and Paris-Nice.
A favourite heading into the sprinters-focused classic, Bennett got himself into a massive 30-man breakaway with over 70 km to go.
And as that group of leaders held off the main peloton to set up a group sprint, Bennett fancied his chances with four other teammates around him in the final run in.
But Bennett found himself boxed in in the final few meters as Phillipsen's Alpacin-Fenix team upped the pace and couldn't quite rebuild his momentum to overtake the Belgian.
However, Bennett's major focus remains on this summer's Tour de France as the 30-year-old continues to build momentum for his defence of the points classification.
Bennett enjoyed an incredible 2020 Tour as he saw off Peter Sagan to win the Green Jersey in the historic race, and with many of his rivals already confirmed to start this time around, Bennett will be hoping to hold onto the jersey.
