Sam Bennett said he was happy with his comeback racing, adding he was sitting at 350-400 watts even when he was eventually dropped (Photo: Macphtos)
By Shane Stokes
Sam Bennett has given a cautious thumbs up to his performance in what was his first race of the season on Wednesday, and his first competitive event since he underwent heart surgery last autumn. He said even when he was dropped he was "still sitting at 350, 400 watts".
Bennett made his debut with the Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team in Nokere Koerse in Belgium, and was very visible at the front of the peloton with 41km to go.
He faded as the pace heated up, something which is understandable given that it is his first race in five months. “To be honest, I was quite happy, because the base fitness is quite good,” Bennett told Stickybottle after the race.
“I just didn’t have the accelerations to keep doing it. On the last lap I just completely blew up. The thing was, even when I was dropped, I was still sitting at 350, 400 watts. I just had one speed.”
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Bennett normally hits the ground running but his greatly disrupted winter plus the fact that his rivals have already been racing several weeks or longer has given them a clear head start on him.
“It is the first time in the last couple of years where I thought I need racing to get ready. Normally I am good from the start, just with training, but I suppose it has been so many months without racing,” he said. “I’m only training the bones of two months, so I can’t really expect more.”
Bennett ultimately finished 122nd, 5:11 behind the winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech). Seth Dunwoody was prominent in what was a guest appearance with the Bahrain-Victorious WorldTour team and rolled in 1:43 back.
'There are some differences with the heart rate'
Bennett was on top of world cycling in 2020, winning two stages plus the green jersey at the Tour de France, but a knee injury in 2021 and a Covid infection in 2022 prevented him from getting back to that level. He has not taken a WorldTour win since his two stage victories in the 2022 Vuelta a España.
He told stickybottle earlier this year that it is possible that the heart rhythm issues which became very apparent last autumn may have been affecting him for several years.
Bennett underwent an operation to correct the atrial fibrillation issue and told Stickybottle last week that he has been making steady progress.
“I feel the fitness is there. I am quite good. My endurance and tempo efforts are normal again, they are quite strong. What I do find is I am missing the zone around VO2 Max.
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"Two weeks ago, I did a one minute and a five minute test, and three minutes into the five minute test I could feel that the body just wasn’t used to that effort. I was kind of dying, I couldn’t hurt, I couldn’t get into the rhythm. I just didn’t have it.
“I suppose that stuff comes quick, so last week I did a little bit of that work. It was quite hard, but I could see the progression in each block. There were two blocks last week, and there was a difference between the two of them, a huge difference. So it does seem to be coming quick.
“But I don’t know how good it will be by the time I do race. I don’t think I’ll be peaking or anything when I come back, but it might be that I have enough done to race. I think it is going quite well, I can see the progression and everything.”
Asked specifically how his heart was feeling, he revealed there is a difference post operation.
“With the heart, when I push to another step, it is uneasy but it adapts. And then I can push to the next step and then it goes so on and so forth. It is like I am training it again, which is weird.
“There are some differences in the heart rate. It is a bit lower than it was before, which is…I won’t say strange, but what I see now is more normal for my age. Whereas before it was going well into the 200s. I suppose for a 34, 35 year old, seeing 210 maybe wasn’t so normal!
“So see that kind of makes more sense now. Apart from that, everything is going okay. Just normal progression, there is no such things as miracles, I suppose. I just have to continue building. But it is quite positive, it is solid.”
Looking to the next races
Bennett knew he was lacking sharpness heading into Nokere Koerse. Having been to the fore with an hour left, he said that he hoped to hang on and make it to the final kilometre on what was a gradually uphill finish.
That ultimately didn’t happen, but the most important thing is that he is back competing again and getting a chance to build the race fitness he needs.
“That’s the first one done. I think the repeatability at the top end is something that comes quicker than base does, so it should be fine.”
Bennett has been provisionally listed for the Bredene Koksijde Classic on Friday and then the Région Pays de la Loire Tour, which begins on April 7. His team confirmed the first of those two events on Thursday. As for races beyond this week, Bennett said that things are not set in stone.
“We are taking things step by step with regards the race programme. We just want to do a race, analyse it, see what is needed or missing and what can be done, and then choose a next race off of that. There is no real set programme at the minute.”
The team’s priority is to stay flexible, to not put pressure on Bennett and to work closely with him to ensure his best possible progression. His big targets are still months away, after all, and doing things correctly now will boost the chances of him winning WorldTour races once again.
