An Post-Chainreaction's Sam Bennett won two stages of the An Post Rás in Ireland in May, but yesterday's win in Belgium was his first foreign victory of 2013 (Photo: Lydia Van de Meerssche).
By Gerard Cromwell
Carrick-On-Suir sprinter Sam Bennett continued the good run of form by Irish cyclists this week when he outsprinted a four-man breakaway group to win the Pro Kermesse in Kortemark, Belgium, yesterday.
Having raced the day before, where An Post teammate Nikolas Vereecken won the GP Geraldsbergen, Bennett went into the 165km race with little ambition, lining up on his training bike but ending the day as a surprised victor.
“I was feeling a bit tired from the day before and didn’t have much motivation going into the race so I rode on my training bike so that I could get some power data from the race,” he said afterwards.
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“I was just riding around but after about 60km I started feeling a bit better and moved up and happened to go across to a the leaders in a big group.”
This group swelled into a 29-man breakaway which also included Irish duo Ryan Mullen of the British based IG Sigma Sport team and Felix English of Rapha Condor before the group split again.
“Eight of us got away again and then we were brought back on the last lap, with about 10km to go,” said Bennett. “There was a lot of attacking and three guys got away with about 8km to go. We were attacking and chasing each other but we weren’t really making any ground on the leaders.”
With the lead trio 20 seconds clear in the final 4km, Bennett tried to get across the gap but struggled for a while before eventually making contact with Belgian duo Stijn Steels (Crelon Euphony), Pieter Jacobs (Topsport Vlaanderen) and Dutchman Brian Von Goetham of Metec.
“With 2km to go I made one last big effort and got across,” said Bennett.
“I tried attacking them but it wasn’t much of an attack. They just got on my wheel. With 300m to go the three guys came around me as we went around the final corner.”
“Suddenly there was only 100m left and I was at the back. I started to gain on them in the sprint but the line was coming up very quick.”
“I kept picking up speed though and was slowly getting by them and just as I was coming to the line the Belgian guy put his hands in the air and I nicked him on the line. So I think I had a bit of luck on my side as well. Maybe I should stop thinking about things so much and just enjoy racing.”
Pro Kermesses are open to professional riders from UCI Continental level up, with the odd wildcard thrown in for a good Belgian amateur. While the race may not help secure a contract with a bigger team for next season, it won’t hurt either.
“It’s always good to have on your CV,” says Bennett, who hopes for some equally good results in the Tour of Britain at the end of the month.
“As long as you can keep building on your CV it’s a good thing.”
Mullen was best of the rest of the Irish contingent in 15th at 25 seconds, with English 10 seconds further back in 20th. Dominic Jelfs of Madison Genesis was 37th, five minutes down while Peter Hawkins (IG Sigma Sport) and Sean Downey (An Post) both finished in the remainder of the peloton at 6’40”.
Jack Wilson and Ronan McLaughlin were not listed among the finishers.
Result: Kortemark Kermesse, Belgium
Thursday, August 29th
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1. |
BENNETT Sam | AN POST – CHAINREACTION |
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2. |
STEELS Stijn | CRELAN-EUPHONY |
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3. |
VAN GOETHEM Brian | METEC |
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4. |
JACOBS Pieter | TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE |
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5. |
ASSELMAN Jesper | METEC – TKH CONTINENTAL CYCLINGTEAM |
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6. |
CALLEEUW Joeri | VENTILAIR – STERIA |
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7. |
WIPPERT Wouter | TEAM 3M |
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8. |
VERMEER Tom | CYCLINGTEAM JO PIELS |
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9. |
GODDAERT Kristof | IAM CYCLING |
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10. |
DE BACKER Bert | TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO |
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11. |
WILLIAMS Peter | TEAM IG – SIGMA SPORT |
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12. |
VANOVERBERGHE Arthur | TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – BALOISE |
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13. |
HOLLANDERS Dries | METEC-CYCLINGTEAM |
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14. |
BARRY Daniel | NODE 4 – GIORDANA RACING |
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15. |
MULLEN Ryan | TEAM IG – SIGMA SPORT |
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16. |
DENOLF Ritchie | EFC-OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK.STEP |
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17. |
CRONSHAW Mathew | TEAM IG – SIGMA SPORT |
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18. |
HANDLEY Richard | RAPHA CONDOR JLT |
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19. |
ISTA Kevyn | IAM CYCLING |
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20. |
ENGLISH Felix | RAPHA CONDOR JLT |
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21. |
DEVILLERS Gilles | CRELAN-EUPHONY |
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22. |
KREMER Aron | COLBA – SUPERANO HAM |
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23. |
WILLIAMSON James | NODE 4 – GIORDANA RACING |
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24. |
HARPER George | TEAM IG-SIGMA SPORT |
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25. |
KOISHI Yuma | COLBA – SUPERANO HAM |
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26. |
HOLOHAN Liam | MADISON GENESIS |
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27. |
LAMPIER Steven | NODE 4 – GIORDANA RACING |
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28. |
SYS Klaas | CRELAN-EUPHONY |
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29. |
STEPHENSON Will | RAPHA CONDOR JLT |
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30. |
SAVITSKIY Ivan | RUSVELO |
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31. |
BERTHOLET Quentin | WALLONIE-BRUXELLES |
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32. |
CAPPELLE Andy | ACCENT.JOBS-WANTY |
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33. |
BIBBY Ian | MADISON GENESIS |
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34. |
FOBERT Victor | COLBA – SUPERANO HAM |
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35. |
FREND Kieran | AN POST _ CHAINREACTION |
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36. |
VANDEN BAK Laurent | AN POST – CHAINREACTION |
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37. |
JELFS Dominic | MADISON GENESIS |
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38. |
GODERIS Jelle | TEAM3M U23 |
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39. |
VERMEULEN Emiel | EFC-OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK.STEP |
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40. |
PYFFEROEN Miel | CYCLING TEAM SOENENS-CONSTRUKT GLAS |
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41. |
KONING Peter | METEC – TKH CONTINENTAL CYCLINGTEAM |
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42. |
MARION Gaëtan | T.PALM – PÔLE CONTINENTAL WALLON |
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43. |
SLABINCK Indiana | MORGAN BLUE C.T. VZW |
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44. |
VERCRUYCE Jim | COLBA SUPERANO HAM |
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45. |
SCULLY Thomas | TEAM RALEIGH |
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46. |
DELEUZE Cédric | VC HAUT PAYS |
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47. |
VANDROMME Evert | VENTILAIR – STERIA |
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48. |
CLAERHOUT Sven | DOVY KEUKENS – FCC |
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49. |
TIGRINE Mehdi | ASFRA RACING TEAM |
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50. |
RODGER Shem | NODE 4 – GIORDANA RACING |
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51. |
HAWKINS Peter | TEAM IG – SIGMA SPORT |
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52. |
CUMING Michael | RAPHA CONDOR JLT |
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53. |
DOWNEY Sean | AN POST – CHAINREACTION |
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54. |
TOWNSHEND Brennan | MADISON GENESIS |
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55. |
TAKENOUCHI Yu | COLBA – SUPERANO HAM |
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56. |
MOWATT James | COLBA – SUPERANO HAM |
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57. |
DONDERS Jelle | KON. W.C. DE RUPELSPURTERS BOOM |
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58. |
LETEN Wouter | ROCK WERCHTER CYCLING TEAM |
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59. |
BOSSUYT Gianni | MORGAN BLUE C.T. VZW |
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60. |
DHAENE Brecht | VL TECHNICS – ABUTRIEK CYCLING TEAM |
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61. |
HAGENAARS Luc | METEC – TKH CONTINENTAL CYCLINGTEAM |
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62. |
VAN UDEN Roman | NODE 4 – GIORDANA RACING |
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63. |
LINDEMAN Adrie | METEC – TKH CONTINENTAL CYCLINGTEAM |
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64. |
GROEN Dex | METEC – TKH CONTINENTAL CYCLINGTEAM |
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65. |
DOWNING Dean | MADISON GENESIS |
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66. |
VANOVERBERGHE Richard | OVYTA-EIJSSEN-ACROG CYCLING TEAM |
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67. |
TANIS Quentin | COLBA – SUPERANO HAM |
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68. |
HOUSE Kristian | RAPHA CONDOR JLT |
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69. |
TRUSOV Nikolay | CYCLINGTEAM DE RIJKE – SHANKS |
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70. |
GHYLLEBERT Pieter | AN POST – CHAINREACTION |
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71. |
GREENWOOD Ben | TEAM IG-SIGMA SPORT |
