Ireland's Sam Bennett looking relaxed at the team presentation ahead of Paris-Roubaix.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett will be one of three Irish riders taking to the start-line tomorrow, Sunday, for Paris-Roubaix; a race he has done just once in the past.
In 2014, the Bora-Argon 18 man (then NetApp-Endura) crossed the line in the Roubaix velodrome in 134th, some 27 minutes behind winner Nikki Terpstra (OmegaPharma-QuickStep) and despite the hardship, he loved every minute of it.
He says the race “hurts like hell” and racing through the various cobbled sections is a buzz that’s hard to beat.
“I love it but I’ve never been here in good form for it, which is a pity,” he told stickybottle.
“It’s the only race that doesn't come quickly enough (in the season for me).
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“It’s an amazing atmosphere and it hurts like hell in so many ways. But directly after finishing if you told me we’d be starting again the following day I’d do it.
“The atmosphere is electric and it’s just such a buzz riding it.
“You don’t mind what’s next because you’re just too excited and caught up in enjoying the moment.
“How many riders get to actually ride this race?” he added.
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Bennett made his debut in the race known as the 'Hell of the North' two years ago and crossed the line almost half an hour down. However, given the nature of the race it was a fine achievement for the then neo-pro just to get to the finish.
He’s not in bad form going into tomorrow, mind, and his 12th in the 1.HC-ranked Scheldeprijs midweek told him he’s going good, though maybe not amazing.
Bennett’s Bora-Argon 18 team will be aiming for a top 20 tomorrow, or higher if things go really well.
The third year professional had the best winter build-up of his career, putting in plenty of kilometres in mild weather conditions in Monaco.
He was gunning for a strong ride in Milan-San Remo, but was left short of form for the race.
“I went through a bad patch in Tirreno and San Remo," he said.
"I didn’t listen to my coach or my nutritionist, and I did more," he said referring to over-training and under-eating.
"I just pushed the body too much and it shut down. I was going terrible. I just really damaged the body.”
Bennett backed off in order to let himself recover and to get back into the right condition. He is unsure if he is where he needs to be just yet, but things are on the up.
“I came out of it a little bit for Criterium International. It was nice to get the win, but I really don’t know how my form is here,” he said, speaking before the start of Scheldeprijs.
“I hope it is good. I have been doing the work, but sometimes you don’t know.”
Along with Ryan Mullen (Cannondale) and Matt Brammeier (Dimension Data) he will be one of three Irish lining up and he reckons Mullen is made for the race.
“It will be a great race for him in the future with the power he has. He can do great this year but definitely in the future when he has experienced it, he can go even better.”
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