Sam Bennett at his team's launch earlier in the season. If all goes well for the Carrick-on-Suir 22-year-old in coming days and weeks, the next launch he will be at could be a much bigger affair (Photo: www.at-evh.be)
By Gerard Cromwell
Ireland’s Sam Bennett capped a fantastic Tour of Britain for the An Post Chainreaction squad with second place behind Mark Cavendish on the final stage in London on Sunday and is now hoping his rides there and in Belgium in recent months will land him a pro contract.
“I knew I was in the shop window,” he said of his ride in Britain where he won a stage and was second twice.
“I’ve been really trying hard and got all the support I needed from the team as well. They were brilliant last week. I hope it gets people’s attention now. The ultimate aim is to sign for a top pro team. I just want to keep progressing now and be the best I can be.”
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Having gone into the British eight-day race with ambitions of garnering a podium place on a stage, the 22-year-old Carrick-On-Suir rider came away with a victory on stage five, a day in the green jersey of points leader and two second place stage finishes.
“It was a great week for the team,” said a delighted Bennett.
“We rode aggressively and I definitely think we were punching above our weight.”
Better known as a sprinter, the An Post Chainreaction rider’s victory on stage five was made all the more impressive by the fact that the stage was regarded as one of the hardest of the race, with two ascents of Caerphilly Mountain to be tackled on the finishing circuit.
Having already finished second on the uphill finish to Kendal on stage two, Bennett was able to follow a move by Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana first time up the climb, before easing up and settling into the chase group behind.
“Quintana was going very hard and I looked back and saw Sky were controlling it behind so I kept going but held my own tempo until they came up to me,” said Bennett.
“I knew they’d do whatever they could to keep Wiggins up and keep him out of trouble so all I had to do was stay as close to them as possible. The second time up it was hard but I was able to jump around guys who were letting the wheels go.”
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“People say I can’t climb but when I was in La Pomme I had no problem climbing when I was fit and light. I could always climb when I was fit and I knew if I got over the top in the front group, that I’d have time to recover coming down the descent to the finish.”
Approaching the finish, Bennett was one of only 15 riders, including race leader Wiggins, Colombian climbing sensation Quintana and Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner Dan Martin, who remained in that elite front group.
“It was a fast finish but I kind of knew the fastest guys wouldn’t be there because of the climb. When we got over the top, I didn’t panic with my position. I knew the three IAM guys in the group would try to lead out the sprint so I got onto their wheels in the last kilometre.”
Indeed, the Carrick-On-Suir youngster confidently nudged race leader Wiggins off the wheels of the sprint train with 900m to go and positioned himself perfectly to go get into the final corner third in line. From there, he unleashed the trademark sprint that saw him take victory on two stages of the An Post Ras in May, and outgalloped Michael Golas of Omega Pharma Quickstep and IAM Cycling’s Martin Elmiger to the line for his biggest ever victory.
“I didn’t even know I bumped him off the wheel,” laughed Bennett.
“I was just trying to get on the best wheel possible coming into the finish, so I did what I had to do, I didn’t mean to cut in on top of him. In the last corner, one of the IAM guys (Elmiger) went and I tried to get onto him but a Quickstep guy (Golas) was in my way.”
“There was a bit of a wet patch in the corner so I ran a bit wide but came out of it and saw 100m to go and just kicked. I didn’t have to do much in the last 50m but I didn’t put up my hands just in case somebody was ahead. On the climb, I couldn’t see if somebody went off the front or not and stayed away, so I just did as best I could.”
On Sunday’s final stage, Bennett almost repeated the feat, tussling with Cannondale sprinter Elia Viviani for the wheel of Manx Missile Mark Cavendish and ending the stage second behind the former Tour de France green jersey winner.
“The boys did a great job getting me in the right position with about 700m to go, as it was just so fast. I had a lot of fighting with Viviani for Cav’s wheel and was maybe in the wind a little bit too much trying to get it.”
“But then, coming into the second last corner, two guys came in on me and got the wheel but I came up the inside and got it again on the final corner so it worked out in the end. When Cav kicked, maybe I could have kicked slightly harder but I would have been out in the wind and wouldn’t have got around him. I wasn’t strong enough, so I just stayed on the wheel for second.”
Bennett is now linking up with Nicolas Roche, Dan Martin and Matt Brammeier for the world road race championships on Sunday. Although he finished 10th in the U23 race last year, he admits the step up to the elite race will be a big one.
“It’s a bit intimidating alright, but over the years from junior to U23, Cycling Ireland have always supported me and I really want to try and give something back. I really want to try and help Dan and Nico to the best of my ability. I’ll give them 110pc and I’m looking forward to trying my best for them.”
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