Sam Bennett got stuck into riding for his team on the front of the peloton at Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen today during his first race for Deceuninck-QuickStep for four months.
The Irish sprinter was on the front of the bunch helping with the workload when an early breakaway went away, in a bid to control the gap and set up the finale for the team's sprinter today, Fabio Jakobsen.
Bennett had not raced for his team since Volta ao Algarve in Portugal in early May and so was easing himself back into action after the knee injury that ruled him out of the Tour de France. It was also the first time he had raced with the team since his boss, Patrick Lefevere, began making disparaging remarks about him.
Today’s race was 195km - run over 13 laps of a flat course – and looked like a nailed-on sprinters’ finale from the outset. However, an early break went clear with Ethan Batt (Black Spoke Pro Cycling Academy), Stephen Bassett (Rally Cycling) and Samuel Jenner (BridgeLane).
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And while they soon opened a gap of two minutes, Bennett was on the front for Deceuninck-QuickStep, working with riders from Jumbo Visma and other sprinters’ teams to hold the gap.
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Later in the race Charlie Quarterman (Trek-Segafredo) bridged to the breakaway solo with four laps to go. Two laps later he attacked the group and brought Jenner with him. However, while they were still clear going into the final lap, they were soon caught.
That paved the way for a bunch sprint, with Jasper
Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix) winning from Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo Visma) and Martin
Laas (Bora-hansgrohe).
Bennett was a non-finisher and his team had nobody in the top 10, with Jakobsen back in 34th place. Irish team EvoPro Racing were also in action today, with its best rider, Michael Van Staeyen, placing 15th.
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