Sam Bennett discusses the many highs and lows that have characterised his 2016 season. There were three superb wins against the world's best - and he's not done yet. But there were horrific high-speed crashes and bouts of illness that threatened to overwhelm him. Here, he gives us the warts 'n all account of the year just far (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett is playing down his chances of challenging for the podium at the World Championships tomorrow as he believes the race is going to be a lot more technical and challenging than what some observers believe.
The course may be pan-flat but with exposed sections of road, strong winds likely and the small matter of being part of a team of three the Bora-Argon 18 man reckons it’s not a course he can be optimistic about.
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“I don’t expect much from it, Qatar is not really just about the sprint; if it’s windy you have to be a really strong rider so it could be something for (Tom) Boonen.
“If you go there and your legs aren’t good and you’re in a bad position your race could be over after one or two kilometres.
“Obviously I’ll give 110 per cent but just the way the preparation has gone I’m not so convinced.
“I had really good legs over a week ago and it would have been nice just to hold it, not even push for more because you try and push for more and the body just gives in.
Sam Bennett is Ireland's go-to man for a result at the world championships in Doha this weekend but the 25 year-old is playing down his chances of being in the final shake-up.
Though he’s won two races in the last number of weeks – the Giro della Toscana and Paris Bourges - Bennett was sick in between those events and was unable to really train to his full capacity.
“When I got sick I tried to keep calm and I thought if I stopped immediately I’d catch it (the illness) in time and after five days I thought I felt better.
“But I got really bad sinuses and a bad headache and when I stood up it was painful.”
In total he missed eight days of proper training; yet he could still win when he came back, which gave him confidence.
“I’ve scraped three results this year,” he said modestly of the aforementioned two and the Criterium International in March.
“I’ve had two nice ones recently and I think anything else from now on would be a bonus.
“Obviously I’ll keep fighting and give it 110 per cent but you just take what comes and try not to get too upset if things don’t go right.
“I tell ya, after my time off the bike (recently) I feel so f****** fresh that I could keep going. The morale is good when you get a result and it’d be easy to do another month or two.”
Bennett, second left, finished third on the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico but would suffer more and more as the race progressed.
By the time the 2016 season is over he’ll be close on 80 race days, yet to his credit the motivation is still high.
This has been a year he won’t look back on with many fond memories because there were crashes and illnesses at the worst moments.
There was a horrible smash at the Tour of Belgium in May, poor form at Tirreno-Adriatico and Milan-San Remo because he pushed himself too hard in training.
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And then at the Tour de France in July he crashed on the opening stage and was very badly injured for the entire race, though to his immense credit he made it to Paris.
“The problem is I’ve been fighting all year long and really fighting for results," he said.
"And when you’re fighting and pushing for every race and the results aren’t coming it’s really hard on the head.
“But I never gave in, I always kept fighting and I just had a really shit fucking year. I started the year well but things just kept happening, it’s hard but I never gave into it.
“That was the hard thing and I’ve been doing that since January; it’s difficult but it does pay off.
“I finally broke (the run of bad luck) if you keep chopping away eventually it’ll break; just a pity it’s so late in the year that things clicked.
“If I didn’t have those crashes... The one in Belgium knocked me back a lot, then the crash in the Tour.
"I messed up my system for Tirreno and Milan-San Remo and it took my 4-5 weeks (to recover).
“That was three times in the year when it went to shit and I had to come back from it and I’m sick of trying to come back from stuff. You find your legs and then you get sick.
“It’s so easy to just say 'feck it'. But it’s your job and you have to keep chopping away and eventually if you keep chopping away eventually something will fall your way.”
Bennett was in great condition at the world championships in the US last year and managed 40th place. He is coming into good shape now but believes the race on Sunday will not be for him.
But as the crashes and illnesses came to push his resolve, the Carrick-on-Suir man pushed back hard every time.
He retreated to his bases in Carrick and Monaco to fill the tank again.
He still has the stomach for battle in October and in Doha tomorrow it’ll be just that; a 260-kilometre war of attrition.
“If it’s crosswinds at the start it’s just going to split and that’s it,” he suggested.
“I’ve a feeling it’ll split into a load of groups, then the horsepower is something you must have so it’ll suit the classics riders and TT specialists.
“I can manage, like you saw in Qatar this year I was fine but that’s with good legs.
"If it’s windy with loads of splits then they’ll ride the first few laps hard, the first 3-4 groups will come back together and then it’ll make the bunch sprint a lot safer.
“It’ll really tire guys out and get rid of a lot of guys and then it’ll be reduced and we’ll see what happens. If there’s no wind on the day it’ll just be a big mess.”
When it’s put to Bennett that making – and sprinting from - smaller groups are his thing he replied: “It can happen but how am I going to be fresh when I don’t have the hours?
“When you’re there you have to ride, if not you’ll be at the tail-end of the echelon, get caught in the wind, the road will narrow, the tail will get longer and you get spat out.
“You have to ride and there’s no hiding place. It’s not a bunch sprint race, there’s a technique. You can’t just go solo or go in a long break.”
Either way, first or last, it will be a proud day when he pulls on the green jersey for the first and only time this year alongside Ryan Mullen and Matt Brammeier.
“I don’t get many chances to ride for Ireland with the team having priority. Other people mightn’t agree, but cycling is a business at the end of the day.
“I’m really proud to represent the jersey as best I can and I’d love to do a result that Ireland can be proud of but I’m just disappointed about my preparation for it.”
