The Bora-Hansgrohe rider was chasing a ninth stage victory in three years at the International Cycling Union (UCI) WorldTour race.

His team proved key to controlling the breakaway on the 183 kilometre second stage from Tekirdağ to Eceabat.

They allowed the breakaway an advantage of just over four minutes, but caught the remaining riders prior to the final 25 kilometres to ensure another sprint finish.

Bennett benefitted from two of his potential rivals suffering the after-effects of crashes, with Australia’s Caleb Ewan and Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Molano having both been caught up in incidents.

The Irish rider sprinted to victory in 4 hours, 41 min and 48 sec.

He was followed across the line by Austria’s Felix Großschartner and Colombia’s Jhonatan Restrepo Valencia, who were awarded the same time.

Bennett leads the general classification by 14 seconds from Großschartner, having earned bonus seconds for his stage wins.

The sprinter is also two stages adrift of the record 11 wins by Germany’s Andre Greipel at the race.

Three hilly stages are set to limit his prospects of closing on Greipel in the coming days, although the final stage should offer another chance of sprint success.

Tomorrow’s stage will see the peloton tackle a 137km route from Çanakkale to Edremit.