Sam Bennett has bagged himself a second stage at this year's Paris-Nice after a dominant sprint victory this afternoon.
The Irish rider had too much for his sprint rivals in the final 200 metres of stage five, and now officially hold the green jersey as leader of the points classification.
Bennett cruised to victory well ahead of fancied rival Arnaud Demare in 13th, with Nacer Bouhanni and Pascal Ackermann the riders to come closest to the Carrick-on-Suir man in the final few metres.
It's been a successful start to the season for Bennett, with the win his fourth of the season after claiming two stages in last month's UAE Tour.
Bennett has led the Paris-Nice points classification from the opening day, but wore the renowned yellow jersey on day two as he took the overall lead after an opening day success.
Leading the points jersey classification after three stages, Bennett lost the lead after Primoz Roglic won yesterday's fourth stage, but Bennett continued in green while Roglic wore the yellow jersey.
In a brilliant day for his Deceuninck-Quickstep team, puncheur Julian Alaphilippe bounced back from Strade Bianche heartbreak to overcome favourites Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel in an uphill finish on the second stage of Tirreno Adriatico.
Bennett's sprint rivals Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan are among the star riders in Italy as they prepare for a Tour de France showdown this summer.
