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Sam Bennett has said he will likely start the 2021 season at UAE Tour next month, adding his first peak of the new campaign would be aimed at Milan Sanremo.
He said the Italian classic was one that sprinters could
aim to win and it would be a big goal in that initial part of the campaign.
After Milan Sanremo, which is set to be contested on
March 20th, the 30-year-old who has taken eight Grand Tour stage wins in the
last three seasons, will take a break before building up again for the Tour de
France.
The French Grand Tour was the huge peak of Bennett’s season last year and while he had taken countless pro wins before it – including stages at the Vuelta and Giro – his brace of victories at the Tour brought him national recognition at home.
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He also collected the Tour green jersey in the process
after going head to head with Peter Sagan, who had made the jersey his own for
the best part of a decade.
Bennett is now going into his second year of a two-year
contract with Deceuninck-QuickStep and said if last year proved to be the peak
of his career he would be OK with that, but at the same time he wanted more.
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“I still feel like I lost out on a few years, am still playing catch-up, so definitely still motivated to do a lot more, win a lot more races,” Sam Bennett told The Irish Times.
“I’m in the best place now to do that, will get all the
best opportunities, and I do feel like I’m going into my best years now, and I
want to make the most of them while I can.”
He said he wasn’t sure of Covid-19 would interrupt his
team’s usual early year training camps. While the pandemic is also likely to
force some race changes or cancellations, Bennett set out his thinking and
goals for the next few months.
“The plan is maybe the end of February, at the UAE Tour,
then Milan San Remo is a big one, I know Seán Kelly has won a few times,” he
said of Kelly’s wins in 1986 and 1992.
“It’s probably the biggest monument that sprinters have a
chance to win, and that’s one I’d really like, and will try to have an early
season peak for that.
“Then a mini off season, and build again for the Tour. It
won’t be long coming around, and having more sprint opportunities at the Tour
would be amazing.
“The green jersey is always a hard one, and it depends on how goes for it, but I’ll certainly give it a go, and would like to get more stage wins also.”
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