Sam Bennett will miss Tour de France 2018. The other stars in the team step up to take on the Bora-hansgrohe's expectations.
No Tour de France for Irishman Sam Bennett
After his excellent ride at the Giro d’Italia Irish sprinter Sam Bennett has not been named in the Bora-hansgrohe team to ride the Tour de France.
Bennett’s omission was anticipated, with few riders opting to compete in both the Italian and French Grand Tours.
Instead, he looks set to ride the Vuelta later in the season. Furthermore, given his breakthrough ride at the Giro he will be fancied for several stages in Spain.
Bennett’s next outing will be on Irish roads, at the National Road Race Championships in Sligo on Sunday.
After the Giro he told reporters that winning the championships was his next goal. Sam Bennett added he would love to wear the Irish champion’s jersey.
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In his absence from the Tour, his Bora-hansgrohe team still has plenty of options.
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Headlining the squad will be two men who carry big expectations; world champion Peter Sagan and general classification rider Rafal Majka.
Sagan will be aiming for stage wins and the green jersey; the latter he has won five times already in his career.
His ride at the Tour was cut short last year. As a result, he will look to make up for those lost opportunities.
Cleared of wrongdoing
He was disqualified at the end of stage 4. Sagan was held responsible for causing a crash in the sprint that saw Mark Cavendish badly injured.
He protested his innocence and months later, just as a legal case was set to begin, the Tour organisers accepted he was not to blame.
Majka has been king of the mountains at the Tour twice; in 2014 and 2016. However, he has never put together a top general classification ride.
In the Tour selection with them are Daniel Oss, Pawel Poljanski, Maciej Bodnar, Marcus Burghardt, Gregor Mühlberger and Lukas Pöstlberger.
Majka and Sagan will be looked on to do the business for the team at the Tour.
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