Sam Bennett's bike was left wrecked by the airline he flew with. He now faces a lot of unwelcome hassle before Sunday's National Road Race Championships.
Sam Bennett bike wrecked by airline
Sam Bennett's bike has been wrecked on board a plane on the way to the National Road Championships in Ireland.
The Bora-hansgrohe sprinter, and former Irish junior and U23 road race champion, took to Twitter to vent his annoyance at KLM.
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At first he said both his bags and his bike had been delayed at 5pm yesterday. Despite the long delay the airline had not been returning his calls.
A couple of hours later, yesterday evening, he was back online and shared a picture of his Specialized S-Works Venge Vias.
But rather than the happy ending of being reunited with his bike that he had hoped for, the frame was cracked having been broken while in the care of the airline.
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Bennett told stickybottle this evening he would now need to use a spare bike.
“I have two bikes so I've my training bike to race,” he said.
"I'm disappointed with them because both times I’ve flown with them they lost my stuff," he added of the airline.
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“And now there’s the hassle of building the bike and getting the position sorted.”
However, despite the hassle the Carrick-on-Suir man goes into Sunday’s elite men’s title race among the hottest favourites.
He’s just come out of the Tour de Slovenia where he won the first and last stages. He also took the points classification.
Sam Bennett's form is good
It could have been three wins from the four stages if he had not crashed on a late corner during a sodden stage 2.
That crash cost him the race lead, though team mate Rafa Majka won the queen stage and the overall.
Sunday’s undulating course is one that can suit Bennett and, at 170.5km, it’s a distance to favour the pros.
However, he will obviously face some stern opposition from the other Irish pro riders, including defending champion Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing).
Very disappointed in @KLM
Irish Nationals this week & I have no bike & no suitcaseExpected @ 5pm & they haven't even returned my calls
— Sam Bennett (@Sammmy_Be) June 19, 2017
Ok @KLM my bike has arrived but you have cracked my frame. Your move....@BORAhansgrohe pic.twitter.com/eedrQMxbvU
— Sam Bennett (@Sammmy_Be) June 19, 2017
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