Irish sprinter Sam Bennett will on Friday ride for Deceuninck-QuickStep for the first time in over four months. He will line out at Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen as part of a team led by Fabio Jakobsen.
The 31-year-old Irishman, who already has seven victories this year, has not raced for his trade team since the final stage of Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta on May 9th; an event where Bennett won two stages and the points classification.
Jakobsen will lead the team on Friday, in the 195.3km race starting and finishing in Koolskamp, hoping to win, having just claimed three stages and the points classification at the Vuelta.
Bennett is named in the team too, along with Tim Declercq, Ian Garrison, Florian Sénéchal, Bert Van Lerberghe and stagiaire Stan Van Tricht. Bennett will also be one of the riders who goes on to compete in Gooikse Pijl on Sunday.
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“For Koolskamp and Gooikse Pijl, we have a fair chance of fighting for a good result with Fabio, who had a great La Vuelta and will rely on an experienced lead-out train, but also on a very strong team capable of controlling the races,” said Deceuninck-QuickStep sports director Geert Van Bondt.
“Saturday, Julian (Alaphilippe) will show his beautiful
rainbow jersey in the Primus Classic, a race that includes a local lap in
Overijse, which will be a good test for the riders doing the World
Championships.
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“Overall, we head into the weekend with a lot of
motivation and confidence that we will get some good results in the three
races”, he added, making no mention of Bennett in his remarks issued by the
team.
Bennett was having another brilliant season until the week before the Baloise Belgium Tour began in early June, when he sustained a knee injury. He banged his knee off his handlebars while training.
That ruled him out of Baloise Belgium Tour and he also pulled out of the Tour de France. He said at the time he could not start the Tour due to his injury and the loss of condition he had suffered while resting his leg.
Bennett’s withdrawal from the Tour prompted a very negative reaction from his team boss, Patrick Lefevere, who has repeatedly insulted the Irish cyclist in recent months.
Lefevere was also furious that Bennett rode for Ireland at the Europeans in Trento, Italy, last weekend. He described Bennett as “playing with my balls in public”.
He suggested he was in the process of cutting Bennett’s salary
by 50 per cent, though with the Irish rider now making an unexpected comeback
to racing this season, Lefevere will not be able to cut his salary.
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