Sam Bennett talks training and confidence on eve of Giro d'Italia
Sam Bennett’s win at Paris-Nice in March has given him the confidence to believe he can challenge at the Giro d’Italia. “It did give me a lot of confidence but also a lot of confidence in what I’m doing in training and what works. It shows I am capable of competing with the best,” he said.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett is counting down to the third Grand Tour of his career, which starts tomorrow. And he is hoping it’s third-time-lucky after two disastrous Tours de France.
The Bora-Hansgrohe man leads a very strong looking squad into the Giro d'Italia. Stage wins will be top of their agenda over the next three weeks.
There’s a handful of stages that suit the fast men. So it was hardly surprising that Bennett got the nod.
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But getting to select the men he wanted around him was quite the vote of confidence in him by the team.
“I just asked for guys who I know will back me 100 per cent and believe in me,” he said.
“I think that’s the main thing. There’s a lot of strong guys in the team but the team I’ve picked here is a great group.
"And they work really well and they get along. And it’s good there’s a good team environment.
“We’ve a lot of engines; guys who are able to climb and go on the flat. We’ve good all-rounders like Lucas (Postlberger) and Patrick (Konrad).
"And Rudi Selig is really strong on the flat too, so it should work really well.”
Bennett has already been racing almost four months as he started way back on January 17th in Australia. He rode the Herald Sun Tour and the Cadel Evans Ocean Race, as well as winning Ride Melbourne, above. But he had an entire month away from racing afterwards. He came back from that to win a stage of Paris-Nice and he’s hoping a similar programme can help reap rewards in the coming weeks.
Sam Bennett isn’t looking beyond this weekend for now. And after Friday’s opener there are back-to-back days that suit him.
“I’ll be going for the first two stages and we’ll take it day by day after that,” he said.
“For my first Grand Tour I had three weeks with no training and I got to stage 17 with zero condition.
“Last year I rode it with a broken hand. So I’m here with much better condition and a lot more confidence. There shouldn’t be a reason to shy away from anything.”
He faced into his first Tour de France in 2015 after a bout of illness. He battled very bravely in the hope it would bring him on as a rider, which it did. But eventually he literally rode himself to a stop.
Last year he suffered the sprinters' nightmare; a highspeed crash in the gallop into Utah Beach on stage 1. And he spent the next three weeks struggling.
But he made it to Paris and this year has looked like he has stepped up a gear as an athlete.
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His last race was a rain-soaked contest in Germany on Monday, where he finished 22nd.
Prior to that his last race was the opening stage of Pais Vasco. He failed to finish because of an illness, which also hit his training in the aftermath.
Bennett: “As the weeks go on, into the second week, there’s more sprint stages and if you’re fresher there then it’s good.”
But when he recovered he went straight to an altitude base in southern Spain. He has spent two weeks readying himself for the Giro.
“It took a while to get that (illness) out of the system,” he said of his post-Pais Vasco condition.
“I got used to the altitude and my coach came to look after me. He kep tme on track and followed me for a week so that was really nice.
“He did a great job in getting me ready; taking my heart rate and power every 20 minutes. Everything went well.
"The watts went up and the weight came down so everything was really good.
“Also, we just tried to repeat what happened before Paris-Nice. But this time I just got lighter and more power. So I should be better than last time. We’ll see how it goes.”
The concept of altitude training is that it artifiically reduces the amount of available oxygen in the body. So when riders go closer to sea level they are hyper-compensated by the oxygen-rich air available.
“I trained low and slept high," said Bennett. "I'd a target with what I ate so I didn’t over or under-fuel.
"I woke up hungry but for the rest it’s about fuelling right and not eating shite.
“I stayed in a place with my own kitchen because if I had a buffet I wouldn’t be able to control what I ate! So I had that to keep me on track.”
He felt the benefits on Monday in Germany. But a combination of bad weather and cramps took him out of contention for the win.
“(Niklas) Arndt and (Alexander) Kristoff were struggling to stay on my wheel on the climb the final time.
“I was debating whether to ride across to the front group. So that gives me confidence with a hard Giro and with the hills you need to be fresh.
“And as the weeks go on, into the second week there’s more sprint stages. And if you’re fresher there then it’s good.
“I always find that when you’re strong enough you’ always seem to be in the right position. You’re strong enough to put yourself there. So it just increases the chances (of a win).”
A bit nervous but ready to go
Sam Bennett's stock has risen significantly since last year’s Tour. And in March he took a career-best win with stage victory at Paris-Nice.
“That win gave me a lot of confidence but also a lot of confidence with what I’m doing in training," he said.
“It shows I’m capable of competing with the best after I’ve prepared better.
“But at the end of the day you still have to do it and after four weeks with no racing you’re a little bit nervous, though I’m sure that’ll go after the first stage.”
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