Sam Bennett, second rider from left, charges for the finish line in at the head of the peloton to take 5th place in yesterday's Scheldeprijs semi classic as Marcel Kittel storms to another win (Photo: Sirotti)
By Gerard Cromwell
Despite finishing fifth in the 1.HC ranked Scheldeprijs classic in Belgium yesterday, Sam Bennett wasn’t entirely happy with his performance.
“It’s a good result but it’s not a podium or a win,” said the ambitious 23-year-old afterwards.
“All of the top guys, the world class sprinters, were winning a lot of races their first year pro.
I’d like to be able to get a few more big wins. The likes of Cavendish and Kittel turned pro at a young age as well. Cav won some massive races in his first year, but I’m not at that level yet.”
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Having ridden his first Tour of Flanders three days earlier, Bennett was suffering a bit at the start of Scheldeprijs and even contemplated stopping at one point.
“At the beginning of the race I felt really, really bad and just wanted to stop,” admitted the Carrick-On-Suir pro.
“It’s weird, sometimes on those days when you feel bad you conserve more energy and you end up feeling a lot better at the end when you come through that bad period.
"In the last hour I had really, really good legs. It’s just one of those things. You’re not going to feel amazing the whole time but you kind of ride through it and come out of it.”
Designated team leader for the Belgian classic yesterday, Bennett was looked after by his NetApp Endura teammates throughout and in the final kilometres they could be seen shepherding him towards the front of the peloton.
“It was a hectic finale with a lot of pushing and shoving," Bennett said.
"Just trying to stay at the front was the hardest thing. You just got swamped so quickly and put right down the back again.
"We had a bit of a panic down by the canal and, in the last kilometre, I’d say we were back in 40th place but Zak (Dempster) and Blaz (Jarc) got me right up into a good position.”
Ireland's Sam Bennett, second rider from left, being presented to the crowd pre-race with his NetApp-Endura squad (Photo: Sirotti)
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As the 200km race came to its conclusion, Dempster deposited Bennett into the sprinters’ line with around 800metres to go, but there was simply no stopping German powerhouse Marcel Kittel in the gallop to the line.
The Giant-Shimano sprinter easily outgunned American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) and Dutchman Danny Van Poppel (Trek Factory Racing) to take his third Scheldeprijs victory in a row.
That left Bennett to battle it out with Italian multiple Grand Tour stage winner Alessandro Petacchi for fourth place.
“Ideally, you’d want to be on Kittel’s wheel but he’s on another level again,” admits Bennett.
“Taylor and Van Poppel were in his slipstream until maybe the last 100metres but I was out in the wind from 200metres to go, so I held my ground really well against these guys.
"I wasn’t badly positioned. I went at the right time. I had maybe slightly too big a gear and couldn’t really get on top of it in the end.
"Ideally, I’d like to kick around them in the last 100metres, but you can’t have it every way. I just have to be happy that I was able to contest the sprint really. The race is known for a lot of close calls and bad crashes.”
Despite having ridden two classics in three days, there is no let up in the hectic schedule just yet, with cobbled classic Paris-Roubaix on the cards for Sunday.
“It’s good to be getting these type of races, good hard races at a higher level,” he says.
“The guys did such a good job trying to support me today that I’ll be happy to give it back to them in Roubaix. I know that Zak and Blaj would like to do well in it and if I can help them in any way I will. If I can finish after that, I’d be delighted.”
While his NetApp Endura team did not get a wildcard invitation to the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Belfast next month, they will be at the Tour de France when it begins in Yorkshire in July. Many Irish fans expect Bennett to be there too.
“To be honest, after riding Tirreno-Adriatico last month I know it’s a big ask," he said of possibly riding the Tour in July.
"I still have a bit to go to be at that level. It would be lovely to start. I’d love it. If I could actually finish it, I know it would make a big difference to me next season, just to get that strength. But it’s a big ask.
"It’s so hard. I thought a one-week race wouldn’t be so bad but Tirreno was so hard. The Tour is just another level altogether but I’ll keep trying to get results and if it comes my way, it comes my way.”
Sam Bennett takes NetApp Endura’s first victory of the season and the first win of his fledgling pro career at the Clasica de Almeria six weeks ago. He's looking for more big wins in the months ahead.
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