"Winter has been busy but I'm not in a body bag; I'm looking forward to Qatar"

Sam Bennett will debut next month for NetApp-Endura in the Tour of Qatar and sounds ready to rock 'n' roll

By Brian Canty

Sam Bennett’s opening race as a NetApp-Endura rider will be the Tour of Qatar, which runs from February 9^th to 14^th.

The 23-year-old is currently training in Aguilas in southern Spain with Marcus Christie and members of Triathlon Ireland and will stay there until next Tuesday after which he will fly home for two days.

From there, it’s off to his first meet-and-greet with his new teammates in Holland from December 20^th to 23^rd where the team is scheduled to take part in a number of team-bonding exercises.

Bennett said it’s a case of so far so good this winter.

“Last week I was with the An Post lads for the week just racking up the miles and doing some good efforts, working on my sprint and a few things like that,” he said.

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“I came out of the week tired but not in a body bag like other years. I just said while I had the company for the week I’d follow them.

“I never really had a good winter before so this will be a first, and everything is going good so far and I feel really good compared to other years. I feel like I’m nearly ready to race,” he laughed.

He had been slated to start the Majorca Challenge in late January but his programme has shifted to the Tour of Qatar - a race he has painful memories of in 2011 when he rode it with the An Post Sean Kelly team.

“The team had told me my first target is the Challenge Majorca, to try and go for the sprint there, but they changed it. They want me in Qatar instead so I need to be in good form for that.

“I remember doing it in 2011 with An Post but I was only after six weeks training because I had tendinitis. And it ended up being one of the hardest weeks of my life so hopefully I’ll arrive there in better shape this time.”

In order to arrive in good shape, he’s hopeful of getting in some training on the track with Cycling Ireland in late January to build up his speed - something that’s vital in a flat stage-race like Qatar.

“After Christmas I’m doing a camp with NetApp in Majorca from the 13^th to the 24^th, then I’ll see what way the schedule is with Cycling Ireland to see can I do some track training to get some speed. I think that’d be good to get that in before Qatar.”