Sam Bennett, far left, was delighted to be back in the thick of it in a bunch sprint again today, and he believed more was possible with the legs he had (Photo: Dario Belingheri-Getty Images)
With 71 career victories, Sam Bennett is not exactly a stranger to the podium at the world's biggest bike races but his 3rd place finish on stage 2 at Région Pays de la Loire Tour (2.Pro) was more significant than other similar past performances.
The 35-year-old is just starting his season after a cardiac issue over the winter months; that problem presenting itself not long after he had been signed on a one-year deal by Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team. If he wants to win this year, and perhaps continue in the sport after the 2026 season, he needs results. And his performance today is confirmation he's on track.
“I think we rode really well as a team," he said after the final sprint into Les Sables-d'Olonne saw him finish behind winner Ethan Veron (NSN Pro Cycling) and runner-up Erlend Blikra (Uno-X Mobility).
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"It was fantastic to have the support from the guys in the final lap and to keep kind of calm on the front, stay out of danger. And also, having the guys there so that they didn't lose too much time in the actual final for the GC. So, yeah, they did a fantastic job.
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"And then in the final, just try to get closer to Vernon. The last 50 meters, I just lost a wheel. I tried my best to hold it, but it meant I had to do kind of two accelerations to kind of come back and to go around the long way.
"By the time I got out, Vernon was gone. He opened up his sprint just as I got closed in," the Irish explained of being on the backfoot and not being able to maximise what he had in the legs today.
"And I think a bit more was possible today, but for sure, it was nice to finally do a sprint after… I don't know how many months. A long time. Definitely nice to be in the mix today.”
Bennett only began his season at Danilith Nokere Koerse (1.Pro) on March 18th. He abandoned Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (2.UWT) the week before last on stage 5 – though that was probably too much to chew so early in his comeback – before also abandoning Dwars door Vlaanderen (1.UWT) last week.
None of those early exits was any crisis for Bennett, who was always going to need some time to get back up to speed after missing two months of training following his cardiac issues in mid November.
However, his result today will steady the ship after that difficult re-entry to the peloton. And if he could repeated that performance over the next two days, or even snatch a stage win, he would be back on track.
