"I’m not a normal sprinter. I have to build the engine up first” - Sam Bennett hoping to peak at the Tour de France
Cycling
Over the years, BORA - hansgrohe's Sam Bennett has sprinted his way to 10 Grand Tour stage wins, including two at the Tour de France. Taking part in this year's Critérium du Dauphiné, Bennett once again hopes to peak on the biggest stage.
"I’ve only just started a training program that I know works for me. I haven’t been able to do it the last year and a half, so when I was asked about altitude I wanted to just keep the training going and keep the rhythm going," the 32-year-old tells the Irish Independent. "I think now, going into the Dauphine, getting another kicking, that should leave me there or thereabouts. I’ll be ready then.”
Set to race the Tour de France for just the fourth time in his career, Bennett hopes a successful Dauphine could be the perfect race to fine-tune his sprinting, ready for the biggest race on the cycling calendar. "The Dauphine is something that will turn you inside out and you’ll find form somewhere on the road,” he explains. “If you look down the start list there might be one other sprinter here. There might be one chance of a sprint and I’m hoping I’m going to be good enough for it but, if not, I won’t be coming home empty-handed. I’ll be building a lot of form here.”
“The last five Grand Tours I’ve done, I’ve always won a stage, if not multiple stages. In theory, I don’t need to be ready for another month but it feels like I really have to prove myself beforehand this year because I was supposed to do the Tour the last two years," Bennett continues. “It’s mad because I didn’t have the form last year and, this year, I’m just having bad luck. It doesn’t look great but that’s sport isn’t it? There’s ups and downs but it’ll break and come right. I’ve put in too much work for that not to happen.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
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