Sam Bennett took no chances with gear choice for Blockhaus climb
Sam Bennett selected a tiny gear for the climb and also deployed a two-bike strategy with a very quick change mid-stage.
In the Giro d’Italia to sprint rather than climb, Sam Bennett took no chances with his gear choice for the Blockhaus summit finish yesterday.
The Bora-hansgrohe rider, who already has two 3rd place finishes to his name, chose a 39 small ring and a 30 on his rear wheel.
Bennett also deployed a two-bike strategy for the stage; opting for the most aero bike possible on the first section of the stage and then switching to a climbing bike for the ascent.
He outlined his reasoning for his kit choices in his Irish Independent Giro Diary today.
Related News
With more than 100km of flat roads before the climbs, he started on the most aero bike available to him; the Specialized Venge with 50mm Roval wheels.
Advertisement
“The more aero you are, the less power you have to use and the less power you have to use the fresher you are going to be at the end of the day,” he said.
“Having agreed with the mechanics last night that I would swap to my climbing bike, the lighter, stiffer Specialized Tarmac with 32mm Rovals on the final climb, they mounted it on the outside of the roof rack on the second team car this morning for ease of access later on.
“Once the grupetto formed, the pace eased so I radioed back to the team car for my climber's bike. They were able to drive up alongside me and pull in before I hopped off and swapped bikes.
“The change was so quick that I was only halfway down the group when I got back on.
“With a small chainring of 39 teeth and a dinner-plate back cog of 30 teeth, I was able to sit down and save my legs on even the steepest parts of the climb today and the responsiveness of the stiffer frame gave me a little boost.”
Topics
