Sam Bennett braced for final stages of gruelling Tour de France as green jersey battle heats up

With six stages remaining, the Irish sprinter holds a 45-point lead over Peter Sagan in the points classification

Sam Bennett is braced for a dramatic finale to what has been a gruelling Tour de France in his bid to hold the green jersey until Paris.

With six stages remaining, the Irish sprinter holds a 45-point lead over Peter Sagan in the points classification after an impressive opening two weeks that saw him win his first ever stage in the historic race.

The Carrick-on-Suir rider has been dominant in sprint finishes, but has seen his lead shaved from 68 to 45 in the classification over the weekend as Sagan's climbing prowess saw him gain points where Bennett couldn't.

And with the seven-time green jersey winner hot on his heels, a 'tired' Bennett says he's taking the fight for the green jersey one stage at a time.

"I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty tired," Bennett told RTE today.

"I'm only human. It has been one of the harder grand tours I've ever done. Speaking in the bunch, it has been one of the hardest anyone has done. It has been 'go' since Nice. 

"Normally we might get some days where the pace might be a little bit lower, it has been incredibly hard racing. I think everyone is in the same position. 

"But you know you get into a rhythm and the body just keeps going. At some stage, the head will give up 100 times before the body does. So it is just about keeping going. It's hard but you just have to keep going. It is just a mental game at this stage.

"I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. My first target was today. Now I know I have some hard days, so I will just take it day by day. I know I have six stages left so I'm trying to break it down. 

"One of those days is a time-trial and the last is the Champs-Élysées, so it's a little bit of an easier stage at the beginning. So it's really only four stages. 

"I'm breaking it down as much as I can so I can approach it better. But I know the first two days back are going to be extremely hard. It is going to be about how long you can hurt for and keep going."

The 29-year-old broke down in emotion after securing his first stage win last Tuesday as he took hold of the jersey.

He beat Sagan as well as rival fast-man Caleb Ewan on the line to become just the sixth man to ever win a stage at the Tour de France.

And in an outpouring of over a decade worth of emotion, Bennett couldn't contain himself in an uplifting post-race interview.

Bennett played second fiddle to the Slovakian rider at former team Bora-Hansgrohe, which saw him miss the premier race for the previous three years as Sagan was favoured ahead of him.

His move to Deceuninck–Quick-Step in December 2019 has seen him finally handed the platform to compete at the grand tour with the backing of a full team.