Sam Bennett will be back in action next week after having a month away from racing; the Irishman leading the charge for Deceuninck-QuickStep at Volta ao Algarve.
While the race will be won overall by one of the climbers
in the field, as it features two uphill finishes, there are also two stages
that should come down to a bunch sprint.
“It’s the parcours we know, with a bit of everything for
everyone. We will aim for good results with Sam in the bunch sprints,” said
Deceuninck-QuickStep sports director Tom Steels.
Steels continued: “These will be technical, but we are confident in him and his solid lead-out. We are curious to see Kasper in the time trial, but also how Fabio will fare. After Turkey, this race will be another important step in the right direction for him.”
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The first sprint chance comes on stage 1 on Wednesday,
raising the prospect of another win for Bennett and another yellow jersey to
add to his race leader’s jersey from Paris-Nice earlier this year.
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Bennett has already won two stages at UAE Tour and two at Paris-Nice this season, as well as taking his first ever WorldTour one-day win, at Oxyclean Classic Brugge-De Panne.
While there are some other fastmen in the field for Algarve,
the biggest sprinting names are thin on the ground as much of the top tier is
going to the Giro.
Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe),
Danny van Poppel (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) and
Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) are Bennett’s most obvious rivals in Portugal.
Deceuninck-QuickStep is built around Bennett but also features
Michael Mørkøv, Shane Archbold, Davide Ballerini and Fabio Jakobsen; an
incredible sprinting and lead-out group.
Added to those five, Kasper Asgreen is also in the line-up
fresh from his epic wins at the Tour of Flanders and E3 Saxo Bank Classic. Bert
Van Lerberghe replaces Tim Declercq as the big engine in the team after
Declercq suffered a recent training crash.
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