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Having gone into his first Tour de France well below par
back in 2015 and abandoned the race on stage 17, Sam Bennett would start the event
again the following year.
Then riding for ProContinental team Bora-Argon 18,
Bennett suffered a horrendous crash on the opening stage when many of the
sprinters went down in the gallop into Utah Beach.
He soldiered on with his hand heavily bandaged; a broken
finger in that hand only diagnosed much later in the race.
That year he made it all the way into Paris; last overall
of the 171 finishers and taking a best placing of 9th, which came on the final
day.
His team then morphed into WorldTour outfit Bora-hansgrohe, which opted to send him to the Giro rather than the Tour in 2017; the Irishman claiming four podium finishes in the Italian Grand Tour but coming up short for a win.
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In 2018 he went back to the Giro; this time winning three
stages. And last year he rode the Vuelta, taking two victories.
But each of the past two years had one thing in common;
no place for Bennett in the Tour de France line-up despite having two breakout
seasons.
With his contract expiring at Bora-hansgrohe at the end
of last year the team tried to hang onto him until Bennett finally broke free
and stepped up to Deceuninck-QuickStep.
It is a legendary team and one that Bennett followed as a
teenage fan when winning school boy races in Ireland.
While he had already taken four wins this season with his
new team, he truly took on the mantle yesterday of Wolfpack winner; triumphing
on the Tour de France where all of the team’s top riders down the years have
excelled.
And the enormity of doing so was clear to see when Bennett was interviewed on TV after his victory into île de Ré at the end of stage 10.
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For his efforts yesterday he also claimed
the green jersey from his former Bora-hansgrohe team mate Peter Sagan – not to
mention a congratulatory message from President Michael D Higgins.
“It was quite emotional,” Bennett said after a tight win over
Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and a nervous wait for confirmation that he had
indeed won.
“I just can’t thank the team enough, you know. They did a
perfect job; everybody had a role and it just feels good to finish the job off.
“Directly after the finish I just couldn’t believe it. It
took a while for it to hit me but when it did; Jesus, it really hit me when it
did.
“It’s a fantastic feeling. I just feel relieved. It was really nice to do it and really nice to do it in the national champion’s jersey as well. I’m a very proud Irishman and I hope I did Ireland proud today.”
Bennett said now that the key objective, at least one
stage win, had been achieved he would “have a look at” the points
classification, which he is now leading again.
“We got our stage win and now we need to see what way we
look at (the points classification); if we’re going to go straight for stages
or to try and defend the green.
“But it’s really nice to be back in green and it’s a
fantastic day for me. It’s thanks to everybody who played a part in the journey
to get here, it took a while.
“It’s special to wear it,” he added of the green jersey. “Sean
Kelly won it and it would make me super proud to be on the podium in Paris. But
we’ll take it day by day and see where that takes us.
“What I can tell you for certain is that being here in
the Irish champion’s jersey and winning today is something I will always
remember.
“Being part of the Deceuninck-QuickStep team is a huge
opportunity for me and I wanted to deliver at the Tour de France, where so many
great sprinters won for the Wolfpack.
“I can’t thank all the guys – my teammates, the
mechanics, the soigneurs, the sports directors – enough, their help in
achieving this was huge.
“The team was incredible today, Michael (Mørkøv) was so
calm and smooth going into the last kilometre. And I left it as late as
possible knowing it was a headwind there. Everything was perfect today and this
victory gives me a lot of confidence.”
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