Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) has said he never stopped backing himself to return to winning form and, with two victories in the bag over the last 48 hours, he now wants to go back to the Tour de France and show he can win there again.
The Irishman had a dream Tour in 2020, ending Peter Sagan's reign as the points classification winner and taking two stage victories, including on the final day into Paris. However, injury then conspired against him in mid 2021 and he has not ridden the Tour since that win in the French capital almost four years ago.
Though the early months of this season - with a new team - fell short of his expectations, he now has the first two wins of the season under his belt, at the Four Days of Dunkirk, and clearly has his confidence back judging by his comments after his second stage win today.
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He sprinted in at the head of the main field - showing flashes of the Bennett of old - to win from the front after a lead-out from his team, beating stage 1 winner Milan Fretin (Cofidis) and Amaury Capiot (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) into 2nd and 3rd. Bennett extended his lead in the general classification in the process.
“We had a different plan for today, we were able to adapt in the finale and show our experience to control the situation," the Irishman said of a messy run-in, but one where his team were notably on the front in the final.
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"With the team, we made decisions quickly and they were the right ones, which allowed me to sprint in very good conditions. We have good momentum and I think there will be more good results to come.
"I'm here to win races and I hope to come back to the Tour de France to show that I am still capable of winning. I always believed that I could come back and I will continue to believe myself."
The Four Days of Dunkirk - a six-stage race - continues tomorrow with the 166.8km stage 4 from Mazingarbe to Pont-à-Marcq. With the terrain flat again, it could be another one for the sprinters.
And as the final two stages, on Saturday and Sunday, are also flat, Bennett may yet get his hands in the air again before this race is done and is in contention to take overall victory, which would be the first stage race win of his pro career.
With three stages remaining, Bennett leads the general classification by eight seconds over Fretin, with Capiot 3rd at 18 seconds; those gaps all arising due to time bonuses as the three stages to date have ended in bunch sprints.
