Sam Bennett's role in his Bora-Hansgrohe WorldTour team is now clearer after the Peter Sagan signed a couple of months ago (Photo: Sirotti)
By Shane Stokes
Although world champion Peter Sagan will become a teammate of Sam Bennett in 2017, their overlapping skillsets will not mean that the Irish rider will simply become a leadout man for the Slovakian.
The team morphs from ProConti level Bora-Argon 18 this year to WorldTour Bora-Hansgrohe for next year.
Team manager Ralph Denk has told stickybottle that Bennett’s importance to the team has been recognised and that he will continue to get his own chances in the team’s racing programme.
“The race programme is not finally decided yet,” he said, when asked if there was a chance that Bennett might ride the Giro d’Italia or the Vuelta a España next season rather than the Tour de France.
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“But for sure Sam created in the past our biggest team success and for sure he is part of the way into the WorldTour. Without any success you cannot find sponsors.
“So for sure I have to say thanks to Sam and we agreed together with the sport director and the coaches that we will give him freedom; not just working for Peter. So for sure we give him freedom.”
Peter Sagan wins stage 2 of the Tour de France into Cherbourg in July. Just because he is a huge name the team has said Bennett has been part of its success to date and remains very much part of its plans; as a sprinter, not a lead-out man (Photo: Sirotti)
Speaking in recent weeks, Bennett said that he would still expect his own chances in races.
“I am not a leadout man. I am still the sprinter,” he said then.
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“It is up to them to give me the programme that I need and the programme that he needs. So I just continue doing my thing… for me it changes nothing.”
However he acknowledged that he could miss the Tour.
“Obviously the Tour de France is his. So whatever he does, I will do the opposite,” he said.
Bennett has ridden that race twice and experienced bad luck on both occasions.
In his debut in 2015 he went into the event below par due to illness in the run up to it, and also became sick during the race. He withdrew in the final week.
This year he went into the Tour in much better form, but crashed hard on stage one and never fully recovered. Placing ninth on the final stage in Paris was his sole top ten result.
Much as he’d like to go back to the race and make his mark, Bennett knows that Sagan has won the green jersey the past five years and that the team will almost certainly back him to do so again. Because of that, an alternative programme is likely.
Denk said that the fastmen in the team will all be able to play their own cards.
“We cannot make do with one sprinter or two sprinters. I expect we need three sprinters,” he stated.
“We have Peter, we have Sam and we have Matteo Pelucchi. Three fast guys. Sam can go for his own success as well.”
Even if he will miss the Tour, Bennett said that there should be a clear advantage to having Sagan as part of the squad.
“I think maybe it will help in terms of the pecking order in the peloton,” he said.
“When we put on the same jersey, that the riders will get more respect. The equipment that comes with it will be really nice.
“Also, the limelight will be on him, so that takes the pressure off me. I can do my thing in other races out of the public eye, really.”
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