Sam Bennett will line out tomorrow in his 2022 season debut at UAE Tour accompanied by his new lead-out train for the first time. In the sprints Bennett will face former team mates Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates) and Mark Cavendish (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl).
Also in the sprinters’ line-up are: Dylan Groenewegen (BikeExchange-Jayco), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix), Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Arnaud Demare (Groupama FDJ).
Carrick-on-Suir man Bennett is part of a Bora-hansgrohe line-up that includes the riders brought into the team to set him up for the sprints; Irish champion Ryan Mullen, Kiwi Shane Archbald and Dutch rider Danny van Poppel.
While Bennett has raced with Archbald for many years – at Bora-hansgrohe, Deceuninck-QuickStep and An Post-Sean Kelly - he has never been team mates with Mullen or Van Poppel.
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Bennett took his last win at Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta at the beginning of last May. His victory on stage 3 at that race was followed by a period of injury, which resulted in him missing the Tour de France.
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And while he missed most of the remainder of the season before returning for a series of one-day races in Belgium towards the end of the season, he did not rediscover his winning form.
That long period without
hitting top form, coupled with returning to his former team and racing with new
lead-out personnel, all adds pressure to his first race of the year. Bennett
has tended to start the season in winning condition and it will be important
for him to take a victory over the next week of racing.
UAE Tour presents four obvious sprinters’ chances, with the first one coming on the opening stage; a pan flat 184km starting and finishing in Madinat Zayed.
The second chance comes on Monday’s stage 2 – some 176km from Hudayriyat Island to Abu Dhabi Breakwater – followed by stage 5, which is 182km from Ras al Khaimah Corniche to Al Marjan Island. The final sprinters’ chance comes on the penultimate stage of the race next Friday; 180km starting and finishing at Expo 2020 Dubai.
Irish road race and TT champion Mullen will also get a chance for a result himself on Tuesday’s 9km stage 3 TT. Bora-hansgrohe also has GC riders Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov in the team. They will be expected to excel on the summit finishes to stages 4 and and 7, up Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet respectively.
