Just 10 days out from the UCI World Road Race Championships and Sam Bennett was on the top step of the podium, winning the UCI 1.1-ranked Paris-Bourges for the second year in succession.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett got back to winning ways yesterday afternoon in the 1.1-ranked Paris Bourges race in France, taking a reduced bunch sprint by a whisker from Russian Alexander Porsev with Rudy Barbier (Roubaix Metropole Europenne de Lille) rounding out the podium.
The Irishman was victorious in the same race 12 months ago when he edged Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis, Credits Solutions) and the two locked horns once again yesterday.
And again, it was Bennett who prevailed after he took advantage of Bouhanni tangling with fellow Frenchman Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) in a hectic final.
“I didn’t feel the best today, the last week or eight days I was off the bike and I had two days to get ready,” said the winner, who turns 26 years old on Sunday week.
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“I did some hard motorpacing sessions and got the body going but I still wasn’t so great for today.
“I felt really bad at the beginning but I expected to; I didn’t expect to feel super.
“I knew where to be in the right moments because I did it last year as well so I kept going and in the final, the guys in the team looked after me.”
The 190-kilometre contest was far from straight forward with sharp climbs and strong echelons breaking the peloton up after 120 kilometres.
“There were these steep climbs and at the top it was flat and crosswinds so you had to suffer to be in a good position up the climb and try to position yourself in the echelons over the top when you’re already on the limit,” he described of how the race panned out.
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“That was the hardest part and then I wasn’t in the best position going over the top of one climb but it stalled for a bit so I sprinted and just got into the echelon.
“I was in a lineout and couldn’t hold the wheel. The legs just weren’t there from not doing the hours…the condition wasn’t there but I could do a bunch sprint.”
He may well have been suffering but upwards of 100 riders got caught out with a similar number making it through to come to the line.
“Coming into the last few kilometres Scott (Thwaites) and Zak (Dempster) got me in a good position and with three corners to go Bouhanni and Coquard got a little bit tangled so they touched the brakes and I came up the inside.
“Then in the last corner I came up the outside in 7th or 8th, I came around the outside.
“Katusha were leading it out, there was a Cofidis guy behind, then he stepped out, thinking Bouhanni was on his wheel and when he stepped out I took his place behind Katusha and then they started going really hard.
“I wouldn’t let the Cofidis guy back in, then I was going to go at 200 but I didn’t have good legs in the final so I said I’d have to go later but I was watching the video and it was after 100 metres to go that I went.
“I thought it was too late but it was just enough. It’s mad, it was one of those days where it all just came together.
“You have days where everything goes but today was a day that everything just flowed really well.
“I didn’t have any expectations and not having the pressure made things easier. I knew I had the sprint but I didn’t force it.
“It gives me great confidence but the condition isn’t there for the worlds.”
We’ll have a longer, extended piece with Sam next week where he talks about his hopes and expectations for the world championships as well as a recap about his up and down year.
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