Sam Bennett's grip on the green jersey was never tested on Friday, with stage 13 of the Tour de France not one for the sprinters.
Dani Martinez (EF Pro Cycling) took the stage win, conquering the 1st category climb up the Puy Mary.
Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) retained the overall race leader's yellow jersey, coming home 6'05" behind Martinez but, perhaps crucially, 38-seconds ahead of Egan Bernal (Team INEOS).
Slovenia and Colombia now dominate the top 10 on general classification, with Roglic holding a 44-second lead over his compatriot Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), with Bernal, Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling), Nairo Quintana (Team Arkea-Samsic) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) rounding out the top six.
The terrible slopes up Puy Mary opened massive gaps on Stage 13 of #TDF2020 @rogla & @TamauPogi were the fastest@Eganbernal dropped 48'' on that ascent alone@romainbardet & @GuilmMartin are now out of the GC Top 10#TDFdata | @LeTour pic.twitter.com/fkUknrI2N9
— letourdata (@letourdata) September 11, 2020
Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) had been in contention during most of Friday's mountainous stage, but found himself swallowed up by the peloton inside a difficult final 30km. He eventually finished in 11th to move up on place on general classification to 43rd, but he's still 1h14'23" down on Roglic.
Bennett's 66-point lead in the green jersey contest was never in danger of even a marginal shave.
With a breakaway hoovering up the intermediate sprint points at Lanobre, Bennett could contently settle into the peloton for the day.
On a gruelling day, the Carrick-on-Suir rider was among the last to cross the finish line.
Quite how much was taken out of his legs will be evident early on Saturday's 14th stage, with an intermediate sprint to contend with just 38km into a 194km stage at Courpiere.
🇮🇪 @Sammmy_Be has arrived with his @deceuninck_qst teammates!
🇮🇪 @Sammmy_Be est arrivé avec ses coéquipiers !#TDF2020 pic.twitter.com/BIyHgMu7ZT— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) September 11, 2020
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