In the stage from Siena to Bagno di Romagna it took a long time before a leading group got established. After sixty-five kilometres sixteen riders, including Bennett, were given space by the peloton. Bennett left a strong impression and attacked several times in the final. When Chris Hamilton and the later stage winner Andrea Vendrame made the decisive attack at two kilometers before the finish, Bennett got caught.

Tobias Foss finished the stage in the presence of Koen Bouwman in the first part of the peloton, just over ten minutes behind the leaders. The Norwegian retained his ninth place overall.

“Today was an opportunity to go for the stage win, but in the final I had to gamble”, Bennett said. “You have to be willing to lose if you want to win. I can’t react on every attack either, because then I would still finish in third or fourth place. Competing for stage wins in breakaways is something I don’t do often. So maybe it takes a while before I get to understand the cat- and mouse play. I think the high mountain stages that are yet to come offer more opportunities. In these stages it’s more about the legs and someone’s fitness than the cat and mouse game we played today. After last week’s disappointments, I haven’t lost my confidence. I’m going to try to make the most of it to try and win a stage.”