Sam Bennett has been courage personified for the way he has continued to fight in this Tour de France and he managed to get right back into the thick of things to contest the bunch sprint that decided today's 14th stage of the race.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett has said that contesting today’s bunch sprint on stage 14 of the Tour de France was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do in cycling.
After his opening day crash two weeks ago today, when he hit the deck extremely hard in the final, he’s battled to beat the time limit on many occasions.
But today he looked really good as he hurtled into the finish at Villars les Dombes.
“The guys looked after me really well coming into the final kilometres and Shane (Archbold) was behind me; all the guys all did a fantastic job.
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“Shane was there in the final, I went to hit the front but I let Katusha slip on his wheel which was a mistake, but I thought I’d get on Kristoff’s wheel easily,” explained Bennett of those final moments before the sprint was opened.
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Bennett's fight to stay in the Tour and to make the time cut after a high speed crash that shred his flesh and cut his hand to pieces and broke his finger has generated a huge amount of media interest. And when the next big win comes - as it inevitably win - he'll have an amazing narrative behind him.
“There was a little bit of a stall, just a tiny bit. I tried to be brave in the sprint but it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in cycling," Bennett continued.
“To go back into a bunch sprint like that after crashing so often in Belgium (over the years) and here two weeks ago....
“I think mentally it was really, really difficult; when I got one or two bumps I tipped the brakes and I lost all my speed and that cost me five or six places…
“Confidence stopped me from getting a result today,” he continued, sounding emotional.
“It’ll be easy for people to say I need to be more aggressive bla bla bla.
“But honestly, as nervous as I am, I think I did well today to be back and I think it’s a stepping stone; first to be back in the bunch sprint and then to have confidence to push and shove a little bit more.
“I can’t thank the guys enough for the job they did, they looked after me, they kept me really, really safe and at last we’re back on track.”
Bennett's audio interview
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