Sam Bennett (Team NetApp-Endura) confirmed his great potential when he won today's Clasica de Almeria. The Irishman stayed attentive when Movistar split the peloton in the crosswinds and finally launched a powerful sprint to take the win ahead of Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Davide Vigano (Caja Rural).

Since winning a big stage in last year's Tour of Britain, Sam Bennett has been in the spotlight as one of the greatest talents on the cycling scene. This year he has joined the professional ranks with Team NetApp-Endura and today he confirmed his potential when he sprinted to a big win in the Clasica de Almeria.

Team NetApp-Endura protected their designated sprinter well throughout the windy day in Andalusia and stayed aware when the race's dominant team Movistar decided to put down the hammer in the crosswinds. When the dust settled, a 19-rider group had emerged, and Bennett had been strong enough to make the selection.

With 5 riders in the group, Movistar was the dominant team but Bennett was also well-supported as teammates Tiago Machado, Iker Camano, and Erick Rowsell had both made the split. The quartet stayed well-positioned in the group as Movistar kept the pace high all the way to the finish.

Despite the presence of fast riders Juanjo Lobato, Francisco Ventoso, and Jose Joaquin Rojas, Movistar were unable to finish off their splendid teamwork. Instead, Bennett proved why he is such a talented rider when he produced an irresistible sprint to take the first 2014 win for his new team while Lobato had to settle for second ahead of Davide Vigano.

With this weekend's two one-day races now over, the Spanish season takes a short break but will be resumed at the end of the month when the WorldTour returns to the Iberian island for the Volta a Catalunya.

A windy race

After yesterday's hilly Vuelta a Murcia, the sprinters were expected to come to the fore in today's 178km Clasica de Almeria. The course started and finished in Almeria and included 4 climbs at its midpoint. However, the final part was completely flat and the most obvious danger was the wind which had often wreaked havoc on the race.

The event was off to a very fast start as several riders wanted to be part of the early break. After 5km, things were still together and the first significant attack from Garikoitz Bravo (Efapel) and Michal Podlaski (ActiveJet) was quickly brought back.

The break is formed

Mario Gonzalez (ActiveJet) made a short-lived attack after 14km but despite being brought back, the Spaniard refused to give up. When the right 7-rider break was formed after 16km, he was again part of the action.

He was joined by Miguel Minguez (Euskadi), Edwig Cammaerts (Cofidis), Igor Merino (Burgos), Ricardo Mestre (Efapel), Byron Guama (Ecuador), and Raul Alarcon (Louletano) and the group was allowed to build up a 1.40 gap at the 27km mark. However, Movistar and Caja Rural took control in the peloton and didn't allow the gap to become much bigger than that.

A battle for points

Alarcon beat Guama and Merino in the first intermediate sprint while Movistar was now left with all the work in the peloton. The Spanish team kept the gap stable at around 1.40 before briefly allowing it to reach a maximum of 2.18 at the 50km mark.

On the day's first climb, the Spanish team set a hard pace to tire out the sprinters, bringing the gap down to 1.03. Minguez was the first at the top, beating Cammaerts, Guama, and Mestre in the sprint for the KOM points.

The gap grows

Movistar slowed down again and allowed the break to reopen their gap to 2 minutes. Meanwhile, Alarcon beat Guama and Merino in the second intermediate sprint while it was Guama ahead of Alarcon and Cammaerts in the third one.

At this point, the gap was 2.27 but when the peloton reached the second climb, Movistar again put down the hammer. Minguez beat Cammaerts and Mestre at the top but the fast pace saw the break being caught just moments later.

Movistar ride hard on the climbs

70km still remained but Movistar didn't slow down. On the next climb, they continued their hard riding but Minguez still had enough in the tank to move ahead of Alejandro Valverde and Lobato to take maximum points on the top.

On the final climb, it was Valverde and Nairo Quintana who set a tempo that discouraged all attacks but again Minguez moved ahead of the duo to seal his win in the KOM competition. In the final intermediate sprint, Alarcon again came forward as he crossed the line ahead of Michael Isidoro (Louletano) and David Arroyo (Caja Rural).

The peloton splits in the crosswinds

With 25km to go, the peloton reached a windy section and now Movistar really put down the hammer.  The peloton split to pieces as a 19-rider group emerged on the front.

Movistar had Pablo Lastras, Valverde, Lobato, Ventoso, and Rojas in there while NetApp had Machado, Bennett, Camano, and Rowsell. Arroyo, Vigano, and Luis Mas were there for Caja Rural while the rest of the group was made up of Luis Angel Mate, Stephane Poulhies, Jerome Coppel (Cofidis), Bartlomiej Matysiak, Davide Rebellin, Tomasz Marczynski (CCC), and Lukasz Bodnar (ActiveJet).

The peloton loses ground

With 15km to go, the group was 25 seconds ahead of the peloton which continued to lose ground. With 10km to go, it was 50 seconds and when it was 1.00 6km from the finish, it was clear that the winner would be one of the riders in the front group.

Movistar set the pace in the final kilometres but in the end they had to settle for second when Bennett launched his powerful sprint to take an impressive win for his new team.

Result:

1. Sam Bennett 4.21.33

2. Juan Jose Lobato

3. Davide Vigano

4. Francisco Ventoso

5. Stephane Poulhies

6. Jose Joaquin Rojas +0.02

7. Bartlomiej Matysiak

8. Luis Angel Mate

9. Tiago Machado +0.06

10. Davide Rebellin

More results to come