Sam Bennett starts Tirreno-Adriatico tomorrow, Wednesday, hoping for an elusive WorldTour win. The Bora-Argon 18 man has been training hard at his base in Monaco and is looking forward to getting stuck in this week.
Sam Bennett is one of two Irish riders starting Tirreno-Adriatico tomorrow, Wednesday; a week-long stage race featuring flat and hilly road stages as well as individual and team time trials.
The Bora-Argon 18 man will spearhead his team’s quest for a stage win on the flatter days.
Paul Vos and Dominic Nerz should push for the top 10 overall while rising Austrian star Patrick Konrad can challenge the youth classification.
Aside from Bennett, Dan Martin is the only other Irishman in the race and he’s in a very solid-looking Etixx-QuickStep team who also have a number of cards to play.
Advertisement
They’ll push for victory in the team time-trial while Bob Jungels and Gianluca Brambilla can also challenge on General Classification.
Bennett, a DNF at Kuurne-Brussels-Buurne last week, admitted he was “a bit nervous” but is confident of getting amongst things this next seven days.
“Tirreno is a crazy race with hard climbs, a world-class field and often bad weather," he said.
But I think stages three and six will be sprints so I should have chances, despite there being a very high standard.
Related News
“It’s a race I’ve been targeting and really looking forward to for a while but as it comes closer I get less and less confident!
“But my legs have been good since the start of the season and though my results haven’t shown it, I can still push for it because they (my legs) are already there from the start of the season.”
The race starts tomorrow, Wednesday, with a 22-kilometre Lido di Camaiore team time-trial and after that the peloton will head towards Pomarance on day two for a fight on a slight uphill finish which will play into the hands of Martin.
On Friday (stage 3) and Saturday (stage 4) the sprinters will have two chances to go for victory, although a short hill that comes 15 kilometres from the finish in Foligno could take out a few of the faster men.
On Sunday, the riders will face four categorized climbs before fighting for the win on Monte San Vicino, a 13-kilometre long ascent that tops out at 1,208 meters.
In Cepagatti on stage six, the finish will be reserved for the sprinters before the race ends with the 10k individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Bennett was on the podium 12 months ago after taking third on stage two but with more confidence and a strong team around him he should be capable of challenging again.
Interestingly, they have not sent a full team of dedicated leadout riders, with only Rudi Sellig getting the nod to look after Bennett in the final.
Martin has only finished inside the top 10 on a stage once in the three times he’s done the race, that coming back in 2013.
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) are just some of the overall contenders for a race seen as crucial preparation for those building form for the Spring classics, the Ardennes as well as the Giro d’Italia.
Topics
