Cycling: George Bennett wraps up Tour of the Alps with second place finish on final stage, earns fifth overall

George Bennett (in yellow) claimed another second place finish in the Tour of the Alps. Photo / Getty

George Bennett has claimed his best result of the 2018 season, earning fifth overall in the Tour of the Alps after another quality showing on the final stage.

For the second straight day, Bennett finished second on the stage, in a conclusion that was eerily similar to yesterday's effort.

Yesterday, Bennett attacked on the flat after a descent, giving chase to a breakaway rider. He got away from the bunch, but finished six seconds behind stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez.

Today, Bennett attacked on the flat after a descent, giving chase to a breakaway rider. He got away from the bunch, but finished five seconds behind stage winner Mark Padun.

In both instances, the stage winner was allowed to escape due to not posing a threat on general classification, and while Bennett valiantly tried to bridge the gap, twice he was left to cross the line in second, seconds short of his first ever stage win as a professional.

Read more of Niall's sleep-deprived cycling coverage:
Stage four
Stage three
Stage two
Stage one

Still, finishing fifth overall is a fine consolation prize, and an impressive result considering he was hit by a car the day before the race.

Bennett will be left ruing stage two of the race, where he lost over a minute on an exhausting final climb. That put him out of contention for the overall title, though in fairness, it also made him less of a threat to the leaders, and therefore allowed him to escape largely unopposed in the final two stages.

In the end, fifth place - one minute behind overall winner Thibaut Pinot - is a fair result, with Bennett just slightly behind the pace set by the four leading riders in the Alps. Pinot finished 15 seconds ahead of Domenico Pozzovivo and Miguel Angel Lopez, with a further second back to Chris Froome.

The podium trio proved they were the strongest on the final stage, escaping up the road with 15 kilometres to go, leaving Bennett and Froome to chase in a small group.

The gap was at 20 seconds as the trio hit the flat with six kilometres left, but with Lopez and Pozzovivo resigned to their fate, the race slowed down up front, and Bennett's group caught back on in the closing stages.

There, Padun's status as a non-threat for the overall title allowed him the leeway to attack, and while Bennett was next to react, he wasn't quick enough, claiming another second place, and clinching fifth overall for the tour.

In 2018, Bennett's stage race results follow a familiar trend - 11th (Tour Down Under), ninth (Tirreno Adriatico), sixth (Volta a Catalunya), and now fifth (Tour of the Alps).

With Bennett's first major goal of the season - the Giro d'Italia - just two weeks away, you can bet that he will be gunning for that streak to continue.