Sam Bennett may have endured a difficult 12 months from mid 2021 - being injured and then coming back - but the Irish sprinter said he felt back to his "old self" after taking his first win of the season in Argentina, last night Irish time.
The Bora-hansgrohe sprinter was best in the bunch gallop at the end of stage 1 at Vuelta a San Juan Internacional (2.Pro); some 143.9km of racing, starting and finishing in San Juan.
While the bunch was given a scare with just over 1km to go, when a median in the centre of the road split the peloton in two, Bennett and his Bora-hansgrohe team mates didn't flinch. They stuck to their task at the front with, first, Ryan Mullen and then Danny van Poppel, delivering Bennett perfectly to the line to win.
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While Bennett may have already made good at the end of last season, with two wins in La Vuelta despite Covid-19 forcing him out after nine stages, the relief at having won again so quickly in 2023 was palpable in his remarks at the finish yesterday.
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"I worked really hard this off-season and I know my team mates did too," said a delighted Bennett after the finish in San Juan. "I didn't have the best season last year and I'm just delighted to start off the season with a win here and return to my old self; starting the season on a high with my team mates."
Bennett added while the conditions were mixed in Argentina, with high temperatures at times during the day, he was very pleased with the outcome of the stage.
"On the climbs where there's no real wind, it's hot of course. But in the evening, at this time in the evening, it's a bit cooler with a lot of wind in the final, so it wasn't so bad. I managed OK for today."
The Irishman now goes into stage 2 today, Monday, with the race leader's jersey and also the lead in the points classification. And with three or four more stages expected to end in bunch sprints, he is hotly tipped to pick up more victories.
The one slightly disappointing aspect of yesterday's stage was the match-up between Bennett and Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) not happening. Jakobsen's sprint was derailed when the field split in two with just over 1km to go. And while the European champion did not crash, he lost vital positions and trailed home in 58th place, on the same time as Bennett.
