Sam Bennett plans to get his season underway very early next year by traveling to Argentina for Vuelta a San Juan International (2.Pro), which gets underway on January 22nd and unfolds over eight stages. The 32-year-old last raced there back in 2019, when he won the final stage in the last season of his first stint with Bora-hansgrohe.
The Irish rider is now back with the German World Tour team and after a difficult season in 2022 he says he is back on track. He aims to ride two Grand Tours back-to-back next year, looking for stage wins and the points classifications. He believes two three-week races would build his engine again.
"I start in Argentina and then the normal; UAE (Tour), Paris Nice and then the classics that I can get up in - possibly Sanremo, De Panne, Gent Wevelgem stuff like that," he said of his plans with Bora-hansgrohe in the first months of next season.
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"And I think some of the main targets then will be the Tour de France again. And I'd like to do two Grand Tours back-the-back, build the engine again. But maybe asked me that on the second rest day in the Tour, I might have a different answer," he laughed.
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The two Grand Tour option would be comprised of the Tour and Vuelta, rather than riding the Giro. Speaking to reporters via video link during a team media day, Bennett said he's won the the final stage of the Giro in Rome and the final stage of the Tour in Paris but had yet to win the final stage of La Vuelta in Madrid, despite finishing 2nd twice there.
While Bennett has been one of the world's top sprinters for years - and the very best in the world at times - he really broke through on the biggest stage in 2020; winning two Tour stages and the green jersey in that race. He was riding for Deceuninck-QuickStep at the time but could not return to the Tour the following year due to a knee injury.
He then signed for Bora-hansgrohe, a team he had previously raced with for six seasons. But he struggled for form for much of the 2022 season. He found it hard to find top gear again after his injury-hit 2021 and was not selected for the Tour this year.
However, did make his team's Vuelta selection. He won two stages in Spain before being forced out of the race with Covid-19 on the morning of the stage 10 TT.
