The chances of Sam Bennett riding two Grand Tours in the one season have increased today, Tuesday, following the announcement that his German-registered squad have been granted a wildcard entry for the Vuelta A Espana. (Photo: Bora Argon 18)
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett’s Bora-Argon 18 team have received huge news today, Tuesday, with confirmation they’ve been guaranteed an entry to the Vuelta A Espana.
It’s the first time the German-registered team will ride the race, though in their former guide as NetAPP-Endura in 2013 they raced it with Leopold Konig finishing ninth overall.
It is the first time the team will do two Grand Tours in the same year and for their sole Irishman on board it could give him the ideal preparation ahead of the World Championships a month later.
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Of course, there’s a long way to go yet before Bennett can even be considered for what is another extremely hard parcours.
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There are a staggering 10 summit finishes – most of which are crammed into the second week.
However, there are chances for the sprinters and Bennett could definitely be selected to chase one or more of the seven flatter days.
The other three wildcard entries confirmed this afternoon are Caja Rural, Cofidis-Credits Solutions and Direct Energie.
The race starts in in Galicia on August 20th with a team time-trial over 29.4 kilometres.
From there, the race heads along the country’s north coast where mountain stage follows mountain stage.
There are three hors categorie climbs during the race which will whittle back the contenders by the final week.
Those three are the summit finish at Lagos de Covadonga on stage 10, the mythical Col d'Aubisque on the 14th stage and the 22-kilometre drag to Alto de Aitana on the penultimate day.
The race ends in Madrid on September 11th after 3,277 kilometres.
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