First year professional Sam Bennett would love to wear the shamrock jersey of Irish champion in the top pro races.
By Gerard Cromwell
With four pro victories under his belt since the start of the season, Sam Bennett lines up at the start of tomorrow’s elite men's national road race championships as one of the favourites.
One of only a handful of professional riders in the race, Bennett expects to be heavily marked by his colleagues in the paid ranks as well as the rest of the domestic peloton.
“Having such a good year means I’m definitely going to be watched a bit more,” admits the Carrick-On-Suir neo pro.
“So it’s going to be really difficult. I think it’s nearly easier when there’s a bigger pro peloton with a lot more guys at the same level, instead of having a handful of guys who are really strong and stand out.
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“For the rest of the bunch, it’s easier to mark them one-on-one, so I’m thinking I may be marked out of it.”
Having ridden the race for the past few years with An Post-Chainreaction, Bennett knows what to expect from the 190km race for the title and admits that getting in the early move is vital.
“It’s a strange race. It’s flat out attacking for the first half hour or so, you get in the breakaway, ride in zone three all day and then race the last 40 minutes or hour. It’s like that every single year.
“The break goes from the start and the guys who are meant to be in it are in it. It’s just about getting into that break but it’s very difficult.”
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A former U23 champion with An Post, Bennett will have no teammates this time around him tomorrow in Westmeath.
Unlike previous editions of the race, Bennett will have no teammates this time around, although his current form may counteract that.
“With An Post, it’s not like we ever had a team leader going into the race. We just did the best we could. I was never, ever going good for the nationals so I’d like to do a bit better this year.”
The elite men’s race takes in nine laps of an undulating 19km circuit tomorrow and having won the U23 edition, Bennett knows the attention the shamrock jersey of Irish champion can bring and would dearly love to be able to wear it in the pro peloton.
“I’d give anything to wear the champion’s jersey in the pro races. It would give me even more motivation to represent the jersey and give it wins in bunch sprints and get it on TV.
“You always want to do your best in the jersey. It would be just awesome, a dream, to win it. But, like I said, it will be very difficult.
“Obviously Dan (Martin) and Philip (Deignan) are going to be watched too but Brammeier has won it four times for a reason.
“He knows how to ride this race. He knows how to get into form for it and he’s the main man.
“I think Martyn Irvine might be a dark horse and can come out and do something on Sunday too.
“You also have (Bryan) McCrystal and (Damien) Shaw going well on the domestic scene and I think one of them could medal. There are so many guys to watch that I won’t know where to look.”
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