Sam Bennett excelled in the cold of Norway a couple of weeks ago. Don't bet against him doing the same in Canada this week, with colder conditions and dirt tracks awaiting the riders.
After returning to competition in great style at the Arctic Race of Norway a fortnight ago, Sam Bennett is now across the Atlantic preparing to make his racing debut in Canada.
The Bora-Argon 18 sprinter will be in action in the testing six-day Tour of Alberta which gets underway tomorrow, Tuesday.
The Irish man had a testing time in the Tour de France in July and withdrew in the last week after riding himself to a standstill.
But he has since won a stage of the UCI 2.HC Arctic Race of Norway, suggesting some really strong post-Tour form.
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He was 3rd on the opening stage in Norway before winning stage 2. He also held the young riders classification for a number of days.
Aside from Bennett, Bora-Argon 18 has selected a very strong team for the UCI 2.1 race from September 2nd to 7th.
It includes the Irish rider’s lead out man and former team mate at An Post-Chainreaction Shane Archbold along with Jan Barta, Cesare Benedetti, Dominik Nerz, Christoph Pfingsten, Scott Thwaites and Paul Voss.
Sam Bennett won two stages and wore the yellow jersey at the Bayern Rundfahrt in Germany back in May. Can he add to his tally in Canada in the next few days?
The opening stage tomorrow, Wednesday, is a 19.6km team time trial in Grande Prairie.
The ProContinental German-backed team will go head to head with the best outfits in North America along with some of the strongest squads in the world including Trek Factory Racing, Orica-GreenEdge), Katusha, Giant Alpecin and Cannondale-Garmin.
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Bennett is most likely to get his first chance of a stage win on Thursday’s 171.6km stage 2 in the county of Grande Prairie, which starts and finishes in Evergreen Park.
While mostly flat, the final 40km is made up of two loops of a 20km circuit with a 1.5km climb each lap. The finish is 8km from the top of the second passage of the climb.
If the Carrick man wants to win he will need to get past Australian Orica-GreenEDGE rider Michael Matthews, who this year has taken wins at Tour of Switzerland, Pais Vasco, Paris-Nice and two stages at Tour of Italy
Friday’s stage 3 takes the riders 181.8km from Grande Cache to Jasper National Park and features two very testing climbs. The final ascent to the finish is 5km in length with an average gradient of eight per cent.
Saturday’s stage 4 unfolds over 162.1km, all within Jasper National Park.
The stage is the second summit finish in as many days, with the climb to the finish some 12km in length and rising to 1,600 metres.
On Sunday, stage 5 takes the riders 206.2km from Edson to Spruce Grove. While it is a flat stage, there are 56.4km of dirt roads in six sections to be negotiated.
The concluding stage next Monday is a 124.1km circuit race in Edmonton, with no fewer than 11 passages of the short steep climb of Bellamy Hill.
Bennett will fancy his chances on stages 2, 5 and perhaps 6.
Sept 2nd to 7th: Tour of Alberta (UCI 2.1)
- Stage 1: Grande Prairie - 19.6km (Team Time Trial)
- Stage 2: County of Grande Prairie - 171.6km
- Stage 3: Grande Cache to Jasper National Park - 181.8km
- Stage 4: Jasper to Marmot Basin - 162.1km
- Stage 5: Edson to Spruce Grove - 206.2km
- Stage 6: Edmonton circuit race- 124.1km
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