Sam Bennett admits he lacks few extra hours in the gym in his prep: "I need a few weeks, months to get to that peak"
Cycling
Despite 22 racedays in his legs, Sam Bennett is still waiting for his first victory in 2024. Once the world's fastest man, the Irishman had been struggling to find his best self for a bit now. Upon joining the ambitious Decathlon AG2R before this season, the 33-year-old believes he's on a good track to raise his hands again at the Tour de France in summer.
"I haven’t had the time I needed to get the gym work done this off-season," Bennett recently admitted to GCN. "I needed a bit more, but I think my engine is stronger, the weight is about the same but with the peak power I just have to get back to the gym. I need a few weeks, months to get that peak to where I need it. It’s not far off."
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"It was changing teams, getting to know the strength and conditioning coach, the normal coaches, getting my programme, getting everything ready. The season came quicker than I wanted! It will come definitely by May, but I just haven’t had the time to do it. That’s the one thing that got away from me and the one thing I need."
"We have fantastic bikes with Van Rysel and the team has been really professional and really on it. Sometimes people say that French teams are more old school, but they’re really on it here. They’re really up with the latest tech, with the marginal gains and it is great to see. I know I can get the best out of myself in this team."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Right on. The more the merrier.Occam13-11-2026
- Remember, Del Toro struggled in this Tour. He is great, no doubt about that, but comparing him to a four time gt winner is absurd at this point. He has the potential. We'll have to see how he develops.awp13-11-2026
- what did Jonas gift and to whom? just curious, haven’t heard about this.mij13-11-2026
- You don't gift grand tours as it has come to light that Jonas has come to regret doing such.
Front24213-11-2026 - Exactly you said it urslf - he outclimbed del toro by 19 sec. 19SEC and you say hes alot better than del toro still lol? And can also do the same where del toro did that to jonas even and del toro dauphine numbers better than jonas all year so why this hard whats the issue its super easy stuff - del toro wasnt that before. Then factor in both their trajectory the last years and the answer is self explonatory like i said. Nothing against jonas like many do but the typing is no the wall and so stupidly easy as its so self explanatory now. Have a good daymiguel13-11-2026
- Dirty ex doper
Front24213-11-2026 - As far as points go they need to take a page or ten out of the Astana playbook!Lozza13-11-2026
- Ah, seems he’s been busy elsewhere! 😆Lozza13-11-2026
- Where is he when you need him!? Wake up man! You’re missing an opportunity!Lozza13-11-2026
- A very true statement made by Johan Bruyneel: "We don’t know for sure about Jonas, because he dropped out of the Tour de France, but he would never have come close to Pogacar. Maybe he would have finished second. He won the Giro in dominant fashion and the Vuelta the year before, but Visma wants to win the Tour." That's exactly what I've been saying the last six months. If Pogi races with Jonas, the most he can be is second... UNLESS... Pogi crashes out or makes a BIG mistake, which is not likely to happen. Either Bruyneel thinks the way I do or he reads my posts. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans13-11-2026
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