Sam Bennett has won Stage 10 of the Tour de France ahead of Caleb Ewan and Peter Sagan in a blistering sprint finish to the latest stage.
Bennett edged out Ewan and Sagan to regain the green jersey, having surrendered the lead to Sagan before the weekend's gruelling Pyrenees stages.
The Carrick-on-Suir rider broke down in an emotional TV interview following his latest heroic effort - becoming just the sixth Irishman to win a stage at the world-famous race.
He said: "I don't think it has hit me. I forgot to throw the bike at the line in the moment and I thought he might have got me.
"I thought I’d be in floods of tears but I’m in shock.
"I just want to thank everyone that has been involved, the whole team, Patrick for giving me this opportunity and just everybody it took to get to here. I want to thank my wife, everyone around me.
"You dream of it, you never think it’ll happen. It did and, I don’t know, it took for a while to hit me."
Today's stage favoured Bennett and the sprinters, with the flat coastal terrain meaning a bunched finish was likely.
Bennett has worn the green jersey on two days of this year's tour, and poses a significant challenge to Sagan's dominance of the points classification.
In doing so, the Irish star became the first Irishman to wear the green jersey since the legendary Sean Kelly in 1989.
The Deceuninck-Quick Step had come agonisingly close to grasping that elusive stage victory twice already.
He was pipped at the line by Australian Caleb Ewan in Stage Three, but has been one of the most consistent of the fast men thus far.
