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Sam Bennett was set to line out in Scheldeprijs (1.Pro) today, Wednesday, looking for another win ahead of his anticipated appearance at La Vuelta later this month.
Today’s 170km race starts and finishes in Schoten, on a shortened course and one that this year remains within
the borders of Belgium.
The Irish rider’s Deceuninck-QuickStep team has assembled
a strong selection around him and believes the race will come down to a sprint
that Bennett can win.
He will have Shane Archbold, Yves Lampaert, Michael Mørkøv, Florian Sénéchal, Jannik Steimle, and Bert Van Lerberghe for support.
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), who was Bennett’s chief rival at the Tour de France and also won two stages, lines out today and it is the Australian that can really bring the fight to the Irish cyclist.
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However, Alexander Kristoff (UAE Team Emirates) is also in
the field and could win, especially if the weather was poor.
Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) is on a roll of late,
having taken a stage of the Binck Bank Tour and Gent Wevelgem on Sunday.
While Pedersen does not have Bennett’s speed he is a real danger man, as are Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) and Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept).
Three-time Scheldeprijs winner Mark Cavendish is also in
the field, something that will come as a relief to many fans after his emotional
post-race interview at Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday when he suggested he may have
ridden his last race.
However, with Cavendish not having taken a win in just
over 2½ years it is his Bahrain McLaren team mate Sonny Colbrelli who poses a
bigger risk to Sam Bennett today.
The Irish rider’s former team mate Pascal Ackermann
(Bora-hansgrohe) will be fancied for another win today, with Luka Mezgec (Mitchelton-Scott) also capable of producing a
winning kick
Chris Lawless (Ineos Grenadiers) is chasing his first win
since taking the yellow jersey at last year’s Tour de Yorkshire while Cees Bol
(Team Sunweb) could also win in a sprint.
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