Bora-Hansgrohe has said while Peter Sagan has been a major signing for them, they have other men capable of winning big races, and that Sam Bennett, far left, is in the middle of those plans.
With their first big race in their legs since the signing of world Peter Sagan over the winter Bora-Hansgrohe has been keen to make it clear the world champion is not the only bullet in their gun for the season ahead.
Ireland’s Sam Bennett, just like Sagan, is capable of beating the very best sprinters in the world on his day.
He took 2nd to the in-form Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) in the People’s Choice Classic the weekend before last and was 3rd on the opening stage of the Tour Down Under.
Bennett then tried to assist Sagan, as the world champion had done for him in the opening couple of outings in Australia, and also rowed in behind Jay McCarthy’s successful effort to jump onto the final step at the Tour Down Under yesterday.
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If Bennett and Sagan can gel a little bit more in the sprint they will be a massive combination, though their core race programs will not be the same.
And now team manager Ralf Denk has said while the big goal for Sagan will be to win the green jersey again at the Tour de France in July.
But that would not even be the sole goal in that race, with the team seeking a top five overall with Rafal Majka.
And in the Giro d’Italia, the team will target a top five overall with Leopold Konig; a race Bennett will ride and aim for stages in. The team also wants to win a monument.
“We're not just a one-man team,” Denk told CyclingNews after the Tour Down Under.
“We have Majka, Konig and other riders who can create results. See at this race we have Jay McCarthy and Sam Bennett, who can both produce results. It's not just a team of three big guys.
"I'm happy with Sam's shape here. It's not decided on his full programme, but it looks like he is more (focused) towards the Giro."
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