The sense of relief was clear in Sam Bennett’s victory salute today at Eschborn-Frankfurt (1.UWT) when the Irish rider took his first victory of the year.
Indeed, in his interviews after the race he was able to pinpoint in days how long it had been since he last raised his arms in triumph. That last victory came on stage 3 at Volta ao Algarve 2021; some 350 days ago when the Irish rider seemed to be able to win when, and how, he wanted.
But not long after collecting that victory – his seventh of the season – Bennett banged his knee off the handlebars out training. Since then there has been a lot of water under the bridge, some of it unsavoury.
He was forced out of the Tour de France last July because of his injured knee, thus denied the chance to defend his green jersey of 2020 and add to his two career stage wins on the race to date. Then came a series of obnoxious remarks from his then Deceuninck-QuickStep team boss Patrick Lefevere, who accused Bennett of feigning injury, all because the Irishman was in the process of changing teams.
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Bennett returned to racing late last season but only to contribute to the team’s work for other riders rather than target victories for himself. A change of teams – back to Bora-hansgrohe – would follow (the root of Lefevere’s tantrums). More recently, the opening months of this season have been winless.
But just when concern was starting to emerge the Carrick-on-Suir man was having real problems finding top form, he pulled the trigger today to take a win on his team’s home soil.
Added to that, the lead-out from Danny van Poppel looked much smoother and more assured than at any point of the season to date. At times Van Poppel has looked like a sprinter doing a lead-out for another sprinter rather than putting out a smoother effort.
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Crucially, when Bennett kicked for the line today it was the bazooka we have become used to seeing in recent seasons rather than the more muted efforts of the last few months.
All in all, it was a great day for the Irishman and his team; the Bennett train back on the tracks and with his main goal, the Tour de France, now just starting to come into focus. In his first remarks after winning today, Bennett suggested the best was yet to come.
"The last couple of months I was still just working on the base and I started working on my top end the last 10 days and it's already showing,” he said. “I have a training period now where I can work towards some big goals in June and July.
"I think the team were fantastic today. They really looked after me all day; helped to control the race. Then in the final there was a perfect job with positioning. Danny really timed the lead-out to perfection, brought me inside 200 to go with a lot of speed.
"I had really good legs as well, but I just want to thank the whole team, the staff, just for supporting me the last few months, getting back on track, and always believing in me. I'm super happy with result and it's fantastic to get the win for a German team at a German race.”
