Sam Bennett will not ride the final Grand Tour of the year, La Vuelta, after his Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale named its selection and the Irishman was absent from the team sheet. The Irish sprinter has raced on just five days since he finished the Giro d’Italia almost three months ago.
Bennett was not expressly linked with a ride in La Vuelta – where he scored two stage wins three years ago. But his schedule this season, especially the fact he has not been exactly flogged by his team, may have lent itself to an appearance in the Spanish Grand Tour.
However, Bennett’s return to racing the week before last was a disaster after he crashed on the opening stage at Tour de Pologne. He fell very heavily at speed, sustaining significant road rash, and though he soldiered on admirably for several days, he abandoned on stage 4.
When he went to Germany last weekend for the one-day World Tour race ADAC Cyclassics, he did not finish. That was despite many of the sprinters surviving in the reduced peloton, though they failed to catch winner, and Irish champion, Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling).
While the Vuelta is not heavy with sprint stages this time around, there are still multiple stages that look good for the fast men. There are at least two in the first week, including the opening stage on Saturday, and two more in the third week.
The fact Bennett is not riding the race means his Grand Tour appearances in his two seasons with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale will remain at two; abandoning last year’s Tour de France with illness and finishing this year’s Giro, with a best stage placing of 6th.
Bennett has 10 Grand Tour stage wins in his palmares and five of them have come at the Vuelta, including two wins in the 2022 edition. Those victories represent Bennett’s last wins on a World Tour race.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, like most teams, have decided to build their team for La Vuelta around a climbing effort, for the general classification and stage wins, led by Felix Gall after his 5th place finish at the Tour de France.
Austrian rider Gall is definitely a strong contender for the final podium and for a stage win and team manager, Julien Jurdie, believes the team has the strength in depth to perform through the three weeks.
“We are going there with a double objective,” he said. “On the one hand, to achieve the best possible general classification with Felix Gall, on the other hand, to do everything to get a stage victory. We have a team built to tackle the mountain stages with good climbers, who will naturally be able to accompany Felix and seize their chance in the breakaways.
“Léo (Bisiaux ), Jordan (Labrosse) and Johannes (Staune-Mittet) have never participated in a Grand Tour. It will therefore be for them the discovery of a real sporting and human adventure and we will try to surround them and accompany them as best we can during these three weeks.
“We have two excellent road captains with Nans (Peters) and Bruno (Armirail). The team’s good results since the end of the Tour de France have allowed everyone to gain confidence and take the start with confidence. All the lights are green for a great Vuelta.”
