Sam Bennett will start Critérium du Dauphiné on Sunday as a tune-up race before an expected return to the Tour de France next month. The Irishman has not started the Tour since he claimed two stages and won the green jersey back in 2020.
Bennett will be looking for a stage win at Critérium du Dauphiné and is backed by a lead-out line-up that includes fellow Irishman, Ryan Mullen, as well as Danny Van Poppel, who recently won Rund um Köln (1.1) in Germany.
Bora-hansgrohe is going for a two-pronged strategy in France over the next week, with last year's Giro d'Italia winner, Jai Hindley, its main general classification challenger.
The Australian, who was also 2nd overall in the 2021 Giro, will go to the Tour next month for a general classification effort, with Bennett expected to lead the team's sprint challenge at the French Grand Tour.
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As well as Bennett, Mullen, Van Poppel and Hindley, the Bora-hansgrohe team for Critérium du Dauphiné also includes Emanuel Buchmann, Patrick Gamper and Nils Politt.
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Bennett will be searching for his second win of the season and as the course suits the sprinters who can also get over some climbs in good shape, there should be some opportunities for him.
The Carrick-on-Suir man may get a chance as soon as the opening stage on Sunday, some 158km starting and finishing in Chambon-sur-Lac. The stage ends on a circuit, for three laps, with a small climb. Depending on how the stage is raced, it may finish in a sprint from a reduced bunch.
Monday's stage 2 is 167.3km from Brassac-les-Mines to La Chaise-Dieu. Though there is some climbing right to the finish, it is modest and some of the faster riders should still be in contention.
Tuesday's third stage - 194.1km from Monistrol-sur-Loire to Le Coteau - features a modest cat 4 climb in the final third, though it should be a finish for the sprinters before a TT for stage 4 on Wednesday.
The remainder of the stages will suit the climbers better, though there is perhaps a slim chance of some of the fast men being in the mix on stage 5. It takes the riders 191.1km from Cormoranche-sur-Saône to Salins-les-Bains, with two small climbs in the final third of the course it's unclear if some of the sprinters could survive to compete for victory.
