While the early
weeks of the new 2022 season haven’t yet seen Sam Bennett hit full form, the
31-year-old is staying relaxed and has insisted his winning sprint will return
with a little more time to build his condition.
Bennett lasted in the front group yesterday on stage 2 at
Paris-Nice, where the crosswinds split the race. But he did not contest the
final sprint. And on stage 3 today he was one of the sprinters to be distanced
in what was a deceptively hard final over some unclassified lumps and bumps.
Before the stage, Bennett spoke to the media and gave an unvarnished, though relaxed, appraisal of his condition at present as he comes back from his injury-hit 2021 season when he suffered a knee injury in May.
“For myself
personally, I just don't have it. I'm just a month or two behind where I need
to be,” he said, saying yesterday’s stage reflected where his form was.
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“It came towards
the sprint and there was just nothing there. I couldn't even get up near the
guys. I came out of the corner with 400 metres to go on got out of the saddle
and I went slower,” he laughed. “It'll get there, but I just need more time.”
Asked if he could
win this week or if it would take longer to recapture winning form, Bennett was
clearly looking beyond Paris-Nice, though not completely writing himself off
this week.
“It's still
possible to win some bunch sprints if everything goes right. But in Paris-Nice,
that doesn’t really happen,” he said. “Like, if you had a slow day with just a
fast final and no real points where you had to use a lot of power or fitness,
then you can find a way.
“But here there's just no hiding. Yesterday I struggled to even ride with the guys in the echelons. So in Paris-Nice, no. Maybe in another race it's possible (to win without top form) but I just know myself I'm a month or two behind.”
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Having said he
was still searching for form, when asked what his plan was for today’s stage,
Bennett immediately contradicted himself with a smile.
“Sure I'll go in
and try to win, you know,” he said. “You have to believe that you can, it’s
just the data doesn't agree with me! So we'll go in and we'll try. For sure,
Jumbo-Visma will probably try and replicate stage 1; try and make it hard.
Yeah, it's not going to be easy.”
Asked how he was
feeling about being back with Bora-hansgrohe for a second time, he said: “Yeah,
it's fantastic. We’ve a great bunch of lads here, it's just natural.”
He also expressed
his satisfaction with the quality of the lead-out from what is a new group of
riders around him, including Irish road race and TT champion Ryan Mullen.
“Everything is
going great there. It's just that I'm the weak link in the chain now. In UAE
Tour they got me to 200 metres to go four times out of four. But there was two
sprints where I couldn't even think straight. So yeah, it was me. I have to be
happy with that (lead out). They're doing amazing.”
On today’s stage 3 of Paris-Nice, Bennett was among
several big name sprinters to be distanced as the final was just beginning; the
sprinters’ clearing paying for their efforts yesterday when they fought to be
in the front group.
Even yesterday’s stage winner, Fabio Jakobsen, was out
the back today, with the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl man finishing 142nd in a group 11:22 down on
the remains of the peloton. Bora-hansgrohe’s Bennett was in the same group
having begun to run into trouble with about 35km to go.
Some of the sprinters survived up front and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) won the stage in a reduced bunch gallop from Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix). The winner of stage 1, Christophe Laporte (Jumbo Visma), suffered a fall in the sprint finish today but was able to remount and retained his yellow jersey.
