Sam Bennett (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) may have yesterday missed out on what would have been his first World Tour win since the 2022 Vuelta, but the Irishman looks like he is coming good.
His sprint - especially the initial kick and the level of aggression he moved around the front of the bunch - bodes well for the weeks ahead and suggest his condition is much better than the last couple of seasons.
He was denied victory on the final stage of Tirreno Adriatico by Jonathan Milan (Lidl Trek) but Bennett believes he has made progress, with things going in the right direction.
"I think I was a little bit overgeared for that final and maybe I should have kicked a little earlier," he said of coming through very fast but perhaps running out of road to close down Milan and missing the optimum moment to pull the trigger.
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"At the moment where I just waited, I lost a little bit of speed. So if I went just a tiny bit earlier in a lighter gear I think it would have been better."
However, he said he was happy with his positioning, in what was a twisty final run in to the line, and also felt the team had helped him very strongly.
"The guys did an amazing job today again. I'm getting the hang of working with Tord (Gudmestad) and with Dries (De Bondt) again and it was a great step (forward) today. Everything is going in the right direction.
"We kept our cool, we knew it was a headwind finish. We lost it a little bit in the chicane. But we came late with speed… it wasn't enough in the end. But it's a good step, a bit of work to do, but we know what we have to do."
