The photo that clearly shows the huge margin by which Sam Bennett won the final stage of the Tour of Qatar.
By Brian Canty
Fresh from winning the bunch sprint that decided the final stage of the Tour of Qatar, Sam Bennett said he was delighted to repay his team’s confidence in him by taking the first victory of the season.
He also suggested while there was “nothing easy” about the victory, he did not need to “second kick” to see off any late challenge that may have come.
“I’m pretty happy now; I feel more relieved that anything else,” he told stickybottle by phone from Qatar,
“I was putting myself under pressure to get a win from the team earlier on in the season.
“I feel like I can relax. Well, maybe not relax; but I feel a bit more chilled out now.
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“The guys in the team did a fantastic job looking after me all week and they did a great job again today; putting me in the right position for the last corner.”
The moment every rider savours; coming over the line punching the air in triumph.
He added he would not have taken the victory but for the efforts of his team mates in the closing kilometres of the hectic 124.5km leg from Sealine Beach Resort to Doha Corniche.
“I kind of did my own thing until around the last 3km to go,” he explained.
“I find it easier just going into the peloton and keeping out of the wind,” he added on the team’s decision not to ride in train formation from a long way out.
“And then I found the guys with around 3km to go; on the back straight.
“They brought me up on the left side, all the way up near the front for the last corner.
“It’s going to be strung out from that corner. So if you are too far back, by the time you get to the front you are going to be too tired. So you need to be right up there.
“I got on to Boonen’s wheel and then I was trying to jump onto the trains. I picked the right spots and timed it really well.”
A delighted Bennett on the podium in Qatar after a win that left him and his team riding high.
Asked if he had had particularly good legs today, he said he felt very good.
“But again, the lads looked after me; Shane looked after me all day,” he added in reference to Shane Archbold, his former team mate at An Post-Chainreaction.
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The talent Kiwi joined Bora-Argon 18 during the winter as part of the team’s efforts to build a line-out train for the Ireland’s Bennett.
“I just came to the line so fresh and nobody came near me,” explained the Carrick man.
“You know, if a guy is sprinting and he’s coming up near you; you have that extra bit.
“But I never had to second kick. I’m not saying it was easy; but it worked out perfectly.”
The winner always looks freshest no matter how hard the racing has been (Photo with thanks to Yofotos)
Asked how it felt to win a sprint against riders like Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), Tom Boonen (Etixx-QuickStep) and Alexander Kristoff (Katusha), Bennett said: “Yeah, I’m fairly happy now. But it’s something I’d like to repeat.
“So we’ll see what we can do for the rest of the season.”
The victory was a fantastic end to an otherwise mixed week for Bennett.
His 5th place on the opening stage gave way to getting caught on the wrong side of some key splits and a very late puncture yesterday.
“I had bad luck but I was never absolutely wrecked after any stage,” he said.
“I had good legs and I just really wanted to get something out of the race after putting so much in.
A win against such classy opposition, so early in the year and after so much effort by the team is fantastic for everyone's morale. It also means the decision makers in Bennett's German ProContinental team will continue to build around the Irishman.
“And obviously with the guys looking after to so well, I really, really wanted to reward all that effort.
“So it’s great to get it; I had to get a result today.”
He said the victory was definitely the biggest of his career to date.
“I came here twice before and took an absolute hiding,” he said in reference to 2011 when the rode with An Post-Sean Kelly and last year with NetApp-Endura.
“So to come back and take a stage and get something from it; it’s fantastic.”
Bennett’s next assignment is the Tour of Oman which begins next Tuesday,
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