Sam Bennett won a stage of Paris-Nice two years ago, above, and has since taken eighteen more victories, eleven in the WorldTour. On Sunday when the opening stage looks like one for the sprinters, the yellow jersey is also on the line.
Sam Bennett goes back to Paris-Nice in coming days on the hunt for victory and as one of the favourites in the sprints.
The yellow jersey is also on offer if he can win the opening stage. And with the first three days of action looking suited to the sprinters, the stakes are high.
Bennett has the chance to follow in the footsteps of fellow Carrick-on-Suir man Sean Kelly.
He was the last Irish rider to lead this race when he took the last of his seven consecutive overall wins in 1988.
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In 2017 when Bennett claimed Paris-Nice stage 3, into Chalon-sur-Saône after 190km, he left sprinting royalty in his dust.
While it wasn’t his first pro victory by any means, it was his first at WorldTour level. And, without question, it was a breakthrough win.
In a blanket finish for 2nd place, all a length behind the Irishman that day were: Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors), Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb), Arnaud Demare (FDJ) and André Greipel (Lotto Soudal).
It was the first time Bennett had beaten them all head to head and since then he has racked up win after win; 18 in total and 11 of those in WorldTour races.
Un super sprint de Bennett ! / A great sprint by Bennett to beat all the other sprinters! #ParisNice pic.twitter.com/RRdX5lcFBc
— Paris-Nice (@ParisNice) March 7, 2017
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Bennett goes into Paris-Nice 2019, which begins on Sunday, as part of a strong Bora-hansgrohe team.
His team mates for the French assignment are Jempy Drucker, Patrick Konrad, Pawel Poljanski, Felix Großschartner, Christoph Pfingsten and Michael Schwarzmann.
Bennett is the team’s undisputed best chance of getting a stage win, though he’ll have his hands full given the opposition in the sprints.
Most of the fast men have shown great form this year and have proven victorious in early season races. As a result, they bring form and confidence into Paris-Nice.
Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott) will all be fancied for a win.
Likewise Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain-Merida) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo); while Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) is coming back after illness.
Sam Bennett won the final stages at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina and UAE Tour, both last month, and would dearly love another win.
Head to head Bennett is faster than anyone else in the race, and he will really fancy his chances in the week ahead.
The opportunities will come early for Bennett with the opening three stages suited to the fastmen.
Stage one into Saint-Geramin-en-Laye is one for the fastmen and a victory there for Bennett would bring the yellow jersey.
The second and third days, into Bellegarde and Moulins respectively, also look tailor made for the Irishman though the roads are exposed and splits may occur.
However, with Bennett in form and stages and a yellow jersey up for grabs in Paris-Nice, the prize on offer this time around is huge.
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