By Shane Stokes
After a break from racing to fine-tune his top end speed, Sam Bennett will return to action today, Tuesday, chasing what would be his first win of 2024. He has gone close in his first months with the Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale team, taking second on stages of the Tour de la Provence and the Région Pays de la Loire Tour, plus third on another stage of the latter event.
He has already said he is happy with his aerobic fitness, pointing to his climbing in races such as Paris-Nice and his strength in the Grand Prix de Denain, but that he was lacking the top end anaerobic power needed to win.
Having worked hard on that in recent weeks, Bennett is looking forward to getting back into the midst of things in the Four Days of Dunkirk event in France. The race, which ironically is six days long, offers several chances for riders of his characteristics.
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“We have a fantastic team there with some great guys to support me in the bunch sprint,” he said. “We should have some good opportunities to achieve good results.
“I’m eager to establish a good rhythm with these guys in the sprints. Consistency with the same teammates in the races is crucial for successful sprints, making things easier in the final stretch. I believe it’s an ideal race to build that cohesion.”
Bennett’s coach Stephen Barrett told stickybottle that the race will be an important opportunity, and one which could boost his confidence with a win.
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“For Sam, we are kind of in a situation now where he is chasing a victory. From a training point of view things have been going well. He is just missing that click that happens in races. The Circuit de la Sarthe (now called the Région Pays de la Loire Tour) was the last time he was up there…he was quite fatigued at the end of that after quite a big block of races.
“We took some recovery after the Circuit de la Sarthe and he got back racing in Frankfurt. It’s a race he obviously won two years ago, but certainly it’s no longer a race for sprinters.”
Bennett was a DNF on that tough course in Frankfurt but riding well in the Région Pays de la Loire Tour at the start of April was encouraging. In addition to second and third on stages, he finished eighth in the general classification.
“He’s been training very, very well,” Barrett said. “The goal is Quatre Jours de Dunkirk, there are definitely quite a few stages that will suit a sprinter. We are hopeful that’s where he can get the ball rolling.”
Bennett is a rider who is responds very well to victories, in terms of gaining momentum and confidence. Barrett told stickybottle previously that he believed the Carrick-on-Suir rider should be in very strong form by May, and will now hope that things work out that way.
“He has been training good, he has been doing a lot more gym work,” he said. “After this race the next preparation will begin with the eye on the main grand tours of summertime. But for the moment it is all good, so fingers crossed he can get off the mark in Dunkirk.”
Stage one of the race takes the riders 168km from Dunkirk to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage. The middle section of the stage is undulating, with a completely flat run in from there to the line, and a likely bunch sprint. Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing), Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Dillon Corkery (St Michel-Mavic-Auber 93) are also on the start list for the race.
