Bennett had to fight back from a late move from Deceuninck-QuickStep, who bumped him off his teammate’s wheel, but that seemed to inspire him even more and he charged past Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-QuickStep) to win on the San Juan ring road.

Bennett had finished third on the opening stage, and then the break of local riders stayed away on stage 6, raising the expectations on the final sprint.

“It’s great to win, it’s a relief, the pressure has gone,” Bennett said, savouring his first win of 2019.

“It’s always nice to get a win in the very first stage race. I needed it because I’d put pressure on myself. It’s really nice that the team had so much confidence in me and gave me three chances in the three sprint stages.