Sam Bennett has said he felt much stronger during the men's road race at the European Championships in Munich today and he believes his top sprinting level is about to return, just ahead of La Vuelta.
The Carrick-on-Suir man has endured a tricky season this year as he has tried to come back from missing half of the 2021 season due to a knee injury.
While he won Eschborn-Frankfurt (1.UWT) in Germany on May 1st he has otherwise struggled to regain the winning kick that has delivered him so many sprint victories in recent years, at the Tour de France green jersey.
He was not selected by Bora-hansgrohe for the Tour de France and now less than a week away from La Vuelta, which he is picked for, Bennett said he was pleased to have felt much stronger today.
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"I think it's coming, there were times during this year I'd end up outside the top 10 and today I had a lot more power," he said of his improved condition in today's 207.9km where he finished 5th.
"There’s still a little bit to go but everything is kind of coming around,” Bennett said. “It's nearly there now, the condition, it's just I need something to click. And then once I get that, it'll just take off again. I feel it's close. It's just taking a long time to get back to the top level.”
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Of today's race, Bennett said once he and his team mates - Matt Teggart, Rory Townsend, Eddie Dunbar and Ryan Mullen - put on the Irish jerseys they were determined to represent the country the best they could. He said he could feel that atmosphere among the team and "we believed we could win today and we gave it our best shot".
He was disappointed he could not have done better, adding he made some choices in the final sprint that did not quite go his way, mainly picking the wrong wheel to follow.
“It was a really dangerous circuit, and it was a bit of a lottery with the positioning. I did the last few k alone, but it might have been a bit better that I was alone, because I could pick the wheels myself,” Bennett explained.
“But I made a slight mistake in the last 600-500 metres and maybe I should have moved up one or two places. But it's a step in the right direction and heading into the Vuelta it gives me a bit more confidence.”
“I was watching Belgium because they were really well organised. And then when I saw Netherlands go, I said I had to go. The last man there for Fabio (Jakobsen) is my teammate. He’s my last man in most races, so I know what he can do, he can do a superb job - Danny van Poppel.
"I knew they were the guys to get onto in the last 600. But I let Arnaud Démare from France get in and I kind of gambled a bit thinking he’d go a bit early, try and get the jump, and then I'd be ready on the wheel. But he waited, so I chose the wrong wheel in the end.”
