Bennett in the rain on the Belgian cobbles yesterday (Photo: JozefC)
An Post-Sean Kelly riders Sam Bennett and Sean Downey appear to be back on track after some recent difficulties, just in time for their first U23 Nations Cups assignments of 2012 with the Irish team.
Both were in action yesterday, Monday, in the 174km Dwars door het Hageland (1.2) in Belgium and put in good rides.
Bennett was to the fore in the group sprint for the minor placings, finishing 15th just 24 seconds behind Belgian winner Timothy Stevens. Downey was a little further back coming home in 64th place, some 14 seconds after Bennett finished.
Both riders appear to be in good shape on the basis of yesterday’s ride in what was a long fast race featuring a 90.2km loop followed by six laps of the finishing 14km circuit.
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Downey crashed hard in the Volta Limburg Classic in Holland last Saturday week and suffered a hairline fracture to his elbow. However, he was hopeful after the fall that the fracture would not disrupt his schedule and that he would still be in a position to ride the upcoming Nations Cup races in France and Holland.
Following more than four hours of racing in the rain yesterday, he appears to have come through the first racing test since his mishap and is travelling to France today to join the U23 Irish camp.
Bennett has experienced his own misfortunes in the past few months, being sidelined with a flu virus that seems to have hit a number of riders on the Continent, including his team mate Connor McConvey.
However, he has ridden a number of races in the last couple of weeks and on the basis of his ride yesterday he too appears to have put that frustrating early season period behind him.
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Both Downey and Bennett are on the four-man Irish team for the Nations Cup race La Cote Picarde in France tomorrow, along with Aaron Buggle and Conor Dunne. The four then travel to Holland for the ZLM Tour on Saturday.
They will be joined for the Dutch race by ‘P&O Ferries Tour of the North’ stage winner Felix English and first-year U23 rider Jack Wilson.
Philip Lavery, who has been a regular on the U23 Ireland teams in recent years, has team commitments racing in France and was not available for the two Nations Cup races this week. However, he is expected to be back for international duty a little later in the season.
Dwars door het Hageland (1.2 Belgium)
1 Timothy Stevens (Bel) 4:07:50
2 Davy Commeyne (Bel) Landbouwkrediet 0:00:02
3 Niko Eeckhout (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly
4 Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Rabobank Continental Team
5 Johan Landstrom (Swe) Team Cykelcity.se
6 Sander Helven (Bel)
7 Huub Duyn (Ned) Cyclingteam De Rijke
8 Boris Dron (Bel) Wallonie Bruxelles - Credit Agricole
9 Daniel Foder (Den) Christina Watches - Onfone 0:00:17
10 Kristian Dyrnes (Nor) Team Oster Hus - Ridley 0:00:20
12 Joren Segers (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly 0:00:24
15 Sam Bennett (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly
45 Mark McNally (GBr) An Post - Sean Kelly at 26 secs
64 Sean Patrick Downey (Irl) An Post - Sean Kelly at 38 secs
84 Stijn Ennekens (Bel) An Post - Sean Kelly at 1:04
Downey rolling out at the start yesterday just before the heavens opened (Photo: JozefC)
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