Irish champion Sam Bennett has already confirmed he will be riding the Vuelta and his Bora-hansgrohe team has just said Peter Sagan will not ride the race.
Bora-hansgrohe directeur Jan Valach has told Slovakian media that Sagan’s preparations for the World Championships in Sagan do not include the Vuelta.
Sagan’s presence in the same WorldTour team as Bennett
has meant the Irish rider has not gotten a ride in the Tour de France over the
past few years.
Last month Sagan won a stage at the Tour and claimed a record-breaking
seventh green jersey as points classification winner.
Sagan rode the Vuelta last year, the fourth time in his
career he has competed in the Spanish Grand Tour.
And while Bennett and Sagan have raced together in the
past, the Slovakian’s absence from the Vuelta line-up this year will hopefully
make the Irishman’s role much clearer.
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Depending on who else is picked by Bora-hansgrohe for the
Vuelta, Bennett should secure team services on the sprint days that he can
target.
He won three stages of the Giro last year and while he
got to ride neither the Italian nor French Grand Tours this year, a stage win or
two in the Vuelta would add to what has been a fantastic 2019 for the
Carrick-on-Suir man.
Last month he won the Irish elite title for the first
time and while he just came up short at the Ride London Classic last Sunday, he
was 2nd to Elia Viviani in his first race for a month.
Bennett took his maiden win of the season, off a lead-out
from Sagan, on the final stage of Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina back in
February.
He then took the final stage at UAE Tour, two stages at
Paris-Nice, one at Criterium du Dauphine and two more at the Tour of Turkey.
On the back of his form and a stature that has rocketed in
recent seasons, he will go into the Vuelta as a hot favourite for more
victories.
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