The Sam Bennett Discussion Thread

[Ruby United]

I couldn't find a discussion thread for this brilliant sprinter, so I will assume there is none. It's about time he had one, though.

Firstly, I love his attitude, both on and off the bike - he fought to complete the Tour last year after a heavy crash near the start.

Secondly, he is incredibly fast. Stage 3 of Paris Nice this year he won a clean, fair sprint, out-sprinting Kittel, Greipel, Kristoff, Degenkolb, Demare etc.
He got a couple of podium places at the Giro but was, admittedly, simply not as fast as Gaviria.

He raced really well in Tour of Slovenia over the last week, easily taking two stages (including out-sprinting Cav in Cav's first attempted sprint since his illness) and took the points jersey.

I think that we may see a great rivalry between him and Gaviria develop in the future. I hope to see him add to his meaningful results in GT's. So far the only thing he's won in a GT is the lanterne rouge last year.

Also, he's Irish.

 

[yaco]

Is uncontracted for 2018 - Expect him to stay with Bora but possibly move to Lotto Soudal in 2019 - He'll need to move at some stage if he wants to ride the TDF.

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

Is uncontracted for 2018 - Expect him to stay with Bora but possibly move to Lotto Soudal in 2018 - He'll need to move at some stage if he wants to ride the TDF.

Lotto is a good option. Greipel is now 34 and by next summer Bennett will, in my opinion, be indisputably faster than him

 

[jmdirt]

He's not in the Rider Directory Thread so maybe checkmypecks or one of the mods will add him.

I think that he could be one of the next big guns in the sprint game. He will definitely have to move if he wants to be the number one sprinter on the team.

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

He's not in the Rider Directory Thread so maybe checkmypecks or one of the mods will add him.

I think that he could be one of the next big guns in the sprint game. He will definitely have to move if he wants to be the number one sprinter on the team.

He has been added now. Not sure who by, but thanks whoever it was.
Anyways, I am curious to see him in the upcoming Irish National Championships.
Seems like he has a lot of hassle to deal with though. The airline he was on seems to have lost his suitcase and destroyed his bike, so he will use his training bike in the Champs.
http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/sam-bennett-bike-wrecked-airline-national-champs/

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Irish RR will be tough for him simply because every single other rider knows that (a) he has no team and (b) if he's still there at the end he wins. It will be like Cav's solo appearances in the British RR. Then again, it's a flattish course and he clearly has form so there's a chance.

Having his bike broken immediately beforehand won't help. I wonder how quickly a bike sponsor will replace a bike for a pro. I know he has a training bike too, which he will be using for the nationals, but I'm guessing that if you are the second or third most prominent rider on a WT team that a sponsor like Specialized will have a shiny new race bike in your hands fairly quickly rather than leaving you training and racing the same bike for half a season?

 

[Leinster]

Well Roche is riding too, so if Bennett isn't with the leaders at the finish it's because Nico is up the road winning the race. It's hard to look past one or other of them for the winner there.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The usual pattern in recent years is that most of the strongest riders have disappeared up the road early on, taking the numerical advantage of the amateur teams out of the equation as soon as possible. Even assuming that happens though, there are still a lot of potential winners - the obvious two, plus a few strong riders who could get away solo in circumstances where there are no doms to chase, plus the Aquablue double act plus an An Post team. Roche and Bennett have been in a lot of national RRs and have only two wins for Roche to show for it.

 

[happytramp]

Anyone have any idea what his racing program for the rest of the season looks like?

 

[King Boonen]

Re: Re:

He's not in the Rider Directory Thread so maybe checkmypecks or one of the mods will add him.

I think that he could be one of the next big guns in the sprint game. He will definitely have to move if he wants to be the number one sprinter on the team.

He has been added now. Not sure who by, but thanks whoever it was.

No problem Part of the job, happy to do it.

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

Irish RR will be tough for him simply because every single other rider knows that (a) he has no team and (b) if he's still there at the end he wins. It will be like Cav's solo appearances in the British RR. Then again, it's a flattish course and he clearly has form so there's a chance.

Cav speaks about ganging up against SKY with his good friend, Dave Millar, in the 2013 National Champs in 2013, where he won.
Maybe Bennett will have a friend in the race to help him.

 

[Leinster]

Re:

The usual pattern in recent years is that most of the strongest riders have disappeared up the road early on, taking the numerical advantage of the amateur teams out of the equation as soon as possible. Even assuming that happens though, there are still a lot of potential winners - the obvious two, plus a few strong riders who could get away solo in circumstances where there are no doms to chase, plus the Aquablue double act plus an An Post team. Roche and Bennett have been in a lot of national RRs and have only two wins for Roche to show for it.

So in the end it was Mullen who got away for his 2nd title.

This year's Vuelta looks like a thankless task for Bennett; only about 5 sprint stages, and even at that there's always one or two that a break gets away on. Might just focus on the likes of the Tour of Britain and flatter Autumn classics like Paris Bourges and Tours?

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

The usual pattern in recent years is that most of the strongest riders have disappeared up the road early on, taking the numerical advantage of the amateur teams out of the equation as soon as possible. Even assuming that happens though, there are still a lot of potential winners - the obvious two, plus a few strong riders who could get away solo in circumstances where there are no doms to chase, plus the Aquablue double act plus an An Post team. Roche and Bennett have been in a lot of national RRs and have only two wins for Roche to show for it.

So in the end it was Mullen who got away for his 2nd title.

This year's Vuelta looks like a thankless task for Bennett; only about 5 sprint stages, and even at that there's always one or two that a break gets away on. Might just focus on the likes of the Tour of Britain and flatter Autumn classics like Paris Bourges and Tours?

That depends to a great degree on what Sagan will be doing.

Also, there's a very good chance that there will be few in form high level sprinters at the Vuelta. If that happens, five chances could result in multiple wins.

 

[Ruby United]

Nice to see him back and at his best too, the last few days.
Dominating the Tour of Turkey.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Nice to see him back and at his best too, the last few days.
Dominating the Tour of Turkey.

Yeah, it's hard to argue with five wins in his last five bunch sprints even if four of them are against a weak field. Much as I like Sam, I hope Theuns beats him tomorrow!

 

[yaco]

Needs to curb his aggressiveness in sprints or one day he'll be pinched by the Commissionaires.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The Irish Times, one of the two main national newspapers here, had a lengthy feature on him today: https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/sam-bennett-s-talent-shines-through-in-italian-sunshine-1.3516613

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

https://mobile.twitter.com/cyclecollective/status/1005925578673778688

 

[happytramp]

Re:

https://mobile.twitter.com/cyclecollective/status/1005925578673778688

I know it's not exactly a world class sprinting field but it's not often you see flat bunch sprints where the winner has enough time to celebrate on the bike before the line.

Also Kittel not looking great this close to the Tour.

 

[Leinster]

You have to say, as good as Kittel was last year, it’s clear that the QS train was a big part of his success. Katusha just haven’t been able to put him in the same positions.

At the same time, it’s a shame Bennett is 99% not riding the Tour. With the legs he seems to have right now, he might be able to get right up there in some of the sprints.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

You have to say, as good as Kittel was last year, it’s clear that the QS train was a big part of his success. Katusha just haven’t been able to put him in the same positions.

At the same time, it’s a shame Bennett is 99% not riding the Tour. With the legs he seems to have right now, he might be able to get right up there in some of the sprints.

Yeah, but that's never going to happen as long as he is on the same team as Sagan.

I agree with the Kittel part. But he is fast and it would be unwise to discount him before the Tour.

 

[happytramp]

So Sagan is riding the Vuelta which obviously means no room for Sam.. Anyone else of the opinion that being on the same team is going to start to seriously hamper his chances now that he seems to be knocking on the door of the top tier guys?

 

[Leinster]

Yup. He’s an elite level sprinter, and he showed at the Giro that he can get over some minor lumps. He’s capable of a TdF stage on the right course, he can maybe even win MSR with a team dedicated to getting him over the Poggio, but he won’t get to try while he’s on the same payroll as Sagan, especially now with the reduced teams.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Yup. He’s an elite level sprinter, and he showed at the Giro that he can get over some minor lumps. He’s capable of a TdF stage on the right course, he can maybe even win MSR with a team dedicated to getting him over the Poggio, but he won’t get to try while he’s on the same payroll as Sagan, especially now with the reduced teams.

Agreed. And they also have Ackermann. It's not going to work at all.

I'm surprised Bennett's not riding the Binckbank Tour.

 

[Leinster]

Hopefully he’ll get the Tour of Britain? He’s had success there in the past.