Sam Bennett is now in with a real shot of riding the Tour de France this year; seen here third from right leading the group at NetApp-Endura's training camp last week in Alcudia, Spain.
The biggest stage in world cycling is now beckoning for Ireland’s Sam Bennett, with news that his new NetApp-Endura squad will ride this year’s Tour de France and also the Critérium du Dauphiné, both run by French group ASO.
The ProContinental team the Carrick man signed for from An Post-Chainreaction has been named as one of the wild card entries for the Tour. It is one of four ProContinental teams joining all 18 squads from the WorldTour for the biggest race in the world.
They have made the cut alongside French teams Bretagne-Séché Environnement and Cofidis as well as Swiss outfit IAM Cycling.
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The Tour de France runs from July 5th to 27th while the week-long ‘mini Tour’ in the shape of the Critérium du Dauphiné runs from June 8th to 15th.
News of Bennett’s team’s inclusion in the Tour makes up for the bitter disappointment of not making the wild card list for the Giro d’Italia when it was unveiled two weeks ago. It was hoped NetApp-Endura would make the cut and that Martyn Irvine’s Unitedhealthcare would also be there.
That would have left open the possibility that both Irish riders would be picked by their teams to ride the Giro and so be on the start line with compatriots Philip Deignan (Team Sky), Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp) when the race got underway with three stages in Ireland in May.
However, Bennett’s squad at least had the consolation of being invited by RCS Sport, which owns the Giro, to ride Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan San-Remo and the Tour of Lombardy.
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When NetApp-Endura was still in the running to ride the Giro, the team suggested Bennett may be selected for it.
“If Sam shows good form, a start in a Grand Tour would not be too early,” said directeur sportif Enrico Poitschke at the time.
“We believe that Sam has great potential when it comes to sprinting, which he has not even fully exhausted yet. We signed him to win races.”
Bennett will be hoping those sentiments will apply in relation to the Tour de France and that he would be given a crack at it if his form was good enough and the team felt he was able. If not, selection for the Critérium du Dauphiné would be a massive step up in itself and would truly usher him onto the very biggest of stages in world cycling.
More immediately, he gets his season underway at the Tour of Qatar next month followed by the Tour of Oman.
The Tour of Qatar takes place from February 9th to 14th. Its six stages cover 715 kilometres over flat terrain, with one time trial.
The Tour of Oman begins four days later, on February 18th, and runs until the 23rd of the month. It is hillier, but there are also two flat stages before the bruising summit finish atop Green Mountain puts shape on the overall standings.
Nice shot of the two NetApp-Endura groups training in Spain; Bennett on front left of first group.
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