By Shane Stokes
Sam Bennett’s season was one of ups and downs but the Irishman believes he is back on the right track, and that there should be multiple opportunities for him in next year’s Tour de France.
“The route looks quite good,” he told stickybottle, speaking of the course unveiled recently by Tour organisers ASO.
“I think there’s seven sprints. It looks like the first week doesn’t have as much altitude meters, but they certainly make up for it later in the race. It is great to see the Champs Élysées back in the Tour de France. It gives something for the sprinters to go for at the end. It is just iconic with the race, isn’t it?”
Bennett won two stages back in 2020 and is keen to do so again. Injury, illness and non-selection saw him miss three years of the race but he returned this season with high ambitions.
Advertisement
Placings of fourth, sixth and ninth weren’t quite what he was aiming for, but sickness held him back towards the end of the Tour and saw him withdraw one day after the best of those placings.
“Unfortunately it was something that came on at the race,” he said. “They were 6,000, 5,000 calorie days and I couldn’t refuel. I lost I think three kilos overnight, something like that.”
Bennett’s first race back was the Tour de Pologne. Second on stage four was encouraging, but he once again fell ill and withdrew. He was also below par in the Renewi Tour in August, and also pulled out there.
“I was fine at home, it came back in Poland,” he said. “I was fine at home again. It came back in Renewi. I was just losing energy, upset stomach and diarrhoea. We have to figure it out.”
Bennett and his team are still in the dark in relation to understanding the issue.
“Unfortunately we didn’t get the tests done in time to see what the cause was,” he said. “Hopefully I will get some tests in the coming weeks, but it could be too late to see any symptoms.
Related News
“But I did hear about people with upset stomachs for two weeks during the summer. Maybe it was something that I had but I didn’t recover enough from between the races. It is quite possible.
“It would be nice to really understand what that was, because Dunkirk was good, Dauphiné was better.”
‘I COULD SEE THE POWER WAS COMING BACK’
What’s most important is that he is in a good frame of mind heading towards preparation for 2025. Some riders would be demoralised after an up and down season, but his five wins in the Four Days of Dunkirk—including his first ever pro stage race victory—plus good sensations at other parts of the year have given him encouragement.
He believes he can do better, and heads towards 2025 with decent morale.
“I was slightly undercooked going into the Tour, but I should have finished the season really strong,” he said. “I could see the power was coming back in the training, big power and great numbers, just doing normal efforts.
“It is unfortunate it didn’t transfer over [to the races] because it could have had me back to my best. But everything is going in the right direction. I am back training now for next season after a break.
"Things are looking good. The team is going in a great direction. It is not that they have to improve, but they seem to be improving quite rapidly. It seems to be a really big project that they are doing.”
The Tour will, as ever, be his prime focus heading towards next season. He’s now 34 but believes he can return to his top form and clock up more success there.
“I definitely made a step in the right direction this year. I am in good shape now. All the sprints should suit.
“You never know with other stages, it depends on how well you are climbing and how the race unfolds. But it should be seven possibilities anyway.”
