By Shane Stokes
Sam Bennett’s dramatic-looking crash at Milan San Remo put him out of contention but, all going well, may not have much of an effect on his race programme.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider and his teammate Cesare Benedetti came down in a four-rider crash just inside the final 34 kilometres of Saturday’s race, with the collision caused by some street furniture.
Benedetti appeared to fall harder, with Bennett getting one foot down before rolling and landing on his back. He seemed winded and stayed on the ground for some time, something which may have been influenced by the realisation that the speeding bunch could not be caught.
Fortunately he was able to get back up and moving again.
“Sam rode to the finish by bike,” a Bora-hansgrohe spokesman told stickybottle, before clarifying he didn’t follow the official route in doing so. “He didn’t finish the race, he just rode his bike to the bus.”
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Bennett is scheduled to compete in the Classic Brugge-De Panne WorldTour race on Wednesday and, all going well, that could still be on the cards. The spokesperson said that a decision will be taken closer to that event.
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“Nobody can say now if this affects De Panne,” he said. “He has some back pain but seems to be okay. But we have to see how he feels tomorrow.”
Bennett won the De Panne event in 2021, beating Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix), Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) and the rest of the bunch to do so. Providing he shakes off any aches, he will be motivated to return again to the event, and also to ride well in Gent Wevelgem on Sunday week.
He has contested the latter event six times during his career, with a best finish of 12th in 2014. He was in the break in 2021 but ate too much and ended up vomiting and losing his place in the move.
At the time he said that he had learned a lot from the race and hoped to get stronger and to fight for victory one day.
