Sam Bennett looking focussed in the line-out at the World Championships, where he only felt the pinch in the last 2km of the 6¼ hour race (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett has expressed his satisfaction at his performance in the World Championships on Sunday and he believes it should stand to him into the future.
The Bora-Argon 18 man was 40th in the 261-kilometre event, just 40 seconds behind Slovakia's new world champion Peter Sagan.
And having decided earlier in the year that he needed to improve other parts of his game, aside from his sprint, Bennett's ability to remain into the mix for almost seven hours will boost his confidence.
While not completely new to races that stretch into a seventh hour, Bennett was this time able to move around the bunch at will and had no great difficultly until the fireworks really went off with 2km to the finish.
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Bennett said Conor Dunne was given the chance to get up the road and put himself in the shop window (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“I wouldn’t say it’s a result,” he said of his finishing position.
“It was an okay performance. I would’ve liked to have tried to hang in a bit longer, even if I was to get the same result.
“But at 2k to go a gap opened and I couldn’t close it and I ran out of steam.
“It’s easy to be wise now but just before the climb (on the second last lap) there was a left-hander onto the finishing straight and I tried to close a gap, I got to within a bike length and blew up.
“That wrecked me for the last lap, I should have stayed calm and that was the only mistake I made because it all came back together anyway.
As he attempts to improve generally, staying right in the mix on such a long race was real step forward (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“Other than that I rode well, moving up at the right times and drifting back at the right times.
“I’d say there were just three laps where I didn’t get it right and all the other laps were fine.”
The race, as is often the case with the World Championships, was a “wearing-down process” and Bennett said the Irish set-up was perfect in Richmond ahead of the race.
“Of course I’ll say I’m happy to finish but you know me…,” he reflected.
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“Last week I was just playing my chances down and I tried not to think about the race.
Bennett said he moved up before the climbs to allow himself some sliding room, feeling he got it right most laps.
“I stayed out of the limelight as best I could and went there relaxed. In my head I was aiming for a top 20, maybe even a top 10.
“Everyone else had teammates but we gave Conor Dunne a free role to get out there and put himself in the shop window and he did that.
“There wasn’t much else he could have done for himself and it’s negligible what he could have done for me, so I just did my thing.
“The week had been perfect. All the staff were amazing and it was such a great environment to be in.
“Neil (Martin) made things easy, we got great food every night, great massages, it was a fantastic set-up.
Bennett said he hit the front trying to close a gap at the end of the penultimate lap but paid dearly for that effort, adding what remained of the peloton regrouped anyway (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“Everyone wanted me to do a good ride; I was talking with Neil (Henderson – coach) and Martin (O’Loughlin – mentor) and they helped get me right after the races in Canada, so it was a real team effort, you could say.
“I could have done no more, I raced clever for the most part and that’s where I ended up.
“It’s all about positioning, though. There was one line at around 5k to go when you go over the top of the climb and it’s all in one line until the last climb.
“That’s where the damage is done, it was difficult but if you’re in the right position you know you can do something.
“Unfortunately for me I’d made my effort closing a gap and paid for it. But I can take a lot from it.
“I’ve ridden a lot of races that distance but I never competed at that distance. I’ve always got around, but never pushed hard for a result.
“So to still be racing at 250k, I went as deep as possible, that was good to put the body through and it augers well for next year.”
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