Sam Bennett to face heavyweight opposition at Gent Wevelgem

*Sam Bennett will be back in action tomorrow in Belgium, where the field in Gent Wevelgem is very strong indeed*

Having enjoyed a break at home in Monaco since his epic ride at the Tour de France Ireland’s Sam Bennett gets back into action at Gent Wevelgem tomorrow when he will face many of the men of the season so far.

The Giro d’Italia may be underway at present but a stellar line-up is set to ride tomorrow’s race and Bennett will have to pull a big performance out of the bag if he is to win the race.

Unlike Bennett (Deceuninck-Quick Step), many of the riders he will go up against tomorrow have been in action in the weeks since the Tour ended and because of that they will have a big advantage over the Irishman.

Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) won two stages at the Tour and was one of the most impressive riders in the race. Since then he has won silver in both the TT and road race at the Worlds.

*Wout van Aert has been in great form for months and appears to be holding his level*

Matteo Trentin (CCC Team) rode very well in the Tour de France without much reward but would live a win tomorrow, as would Cees Bol (Team Sunweb) who went close to winning at the Tour but never landed a victory.

AG2R La Mondiale will put its hopes in Oliver Naesen while Bora-hansgrohe will look to Pascal Ackermann.

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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) did not ride the Tour but in recent weeks has won a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, claimed a stage and the overall at BinckBank Tour and also finish 6th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and been 2nd in De Brabantse Pijl.

Last year’s worth champion Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo) is another potential winner tomorrow and since the Tour he has won a stage at BinckBank Tour.

Mathieu van der Poel was just beaten in De Brabantse Pijl after winning a stage at Tirreno Adriatico, above, and will have victory in his sights tomorrow

Last year Alexander Kristoff (UAE Emirates) won Gent Wevelgem and did so in a sprint from a 28-rder group, a scenario Ireland’s Bennett would love tomorrow.

Kristoff, who won stage 1 at the Tour, could prove victorious again tomorrow though his post-Tour form is not clear.

Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT Pro Cycling) was having a great period before he rode the Tour and abandoned it as he had claimed the Italian and European road titles. He will hope to rediscover that form tomorrow.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) will also be on the start line in Belgium tomorrow, though he seemed to tire in the Tour despite winning two stages.

Bahrain McLaren’s best bet for tomorrow is Sonny Colbrelli, though Phil Bauhaus and Mark Cavendish could feature if they were on form.