Sam Bennett is set to target Gent Wevelgem as part of the Deceuninck-QuickStep cobbled classics line-up meaning he will not ride the Giro d'Italia this year.
The Irish sprinter will compete in the Tour de France, scheduled to commence on August 29th, and while some riders are also taking on the Giro as well as the Tour, Bennett is not one of them.
At a cobbled classics team recon in Belgium at present the Irishman has checked out the Gent-Wevelgem course ahead of an assault on that race in October.
Bennett joined a large group of team mates, split in two, at the team gathering in the Flemish Ardennes with Julian Alaphilippe, Kasper Asgreen, Remco Evenepoel, Fabio Jakobsen, Bob Jungels, Yves Lampaert and Michael Mørkøv, among others, all present along with staff members.
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Sports director Tom Steels said the camp was important to
recon the cobbled classics as some of the courses have changed a little.
“It’s good that the guys are back together and they get
to see each other, they needed to be with the group, as it’s good for their
morale,” he said.
“It also gives us an opportunity to see some of the
measures that will be implemented once the season resumes, but also to do a
recon of the cobbled classics parcours, which will be a bit strange to do in
the summer.”
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Today, Tuesday, was the first day that the team trained
on the roads of Belgium as a group, taking in a 210km recon of Gent-Wevelgem,
set for October 11th in the revised racing calendar.
Sam Bennett said the recon was ideal as the team looks
ahead to the race, which will take place after the Tour and while the delayed
Giro d’Italia is underway.
“On the day of the race knowing the roads can make a big
difference, so we can be happy with our day out on the bike,” he said of the
first ride of the camp, which included the Kemmelberg.
“It was both tough, but also fun, because we got to take
our Specialized bikes for a nice spin, test ourselves and just spend some
relaxing time together.
“Gent-Wevelgem is a beautiful race that I like a lot –
when I have good legs – and I am glad I could do this test.”
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