Sam Bennett hopes his domination in Dunkerque would get him a spot on Tour de France lineup: "I'm preparing as if I'm going to do the Tour"
Cycling
Victorious Sam Bennett is something we haven't been seeing much these last few years. However at 4 Jours de Dunkerque, the Irishman found his absolute best legs and left his opponents eat his dust as he powered to four stage victories as well as overall triumph in France.
For Bennett, these are his first victories since July 2023, when he won two stages at Sibiu Tour (2.1), but these will definitely hold greater value for the 33-year-old. "This is very nice after some difficult years," said the Irishman from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale after winning the final stage.
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"I would like to thank the team again. They were fantastic," continued Bennett, who does not yet know what his next race will be. "I still have to discuss that with the team. It could be the Critérium du Dauphiné, but also the Tour de Suisse or the Tour of Belgium. It seems to be the Dauphiné, but that is not yet certain. Hopefully that will be the prelude to the Tour. I'm preparing as if I'm going to do the Tour, so hopefully I'll make the selection."
If Bennett does indeed go to the Tour, can he compete with the sprint elite of the moment? "In any case, the flow is back. Perhaps the peak power still needs to be increased a little bit, but it is improving."
For the 2020 Tour de France Points classifcation winner, this would be his fourth appearance at the Italian Grand tour. Bennett has won two sprints that year while he also finished on the podium three more times.
Last year, Bennett has not made an appearance at any of the three-week stage races amidst mix of health issues, disagreement with team management and drop in form. However if he can even improve his form showed in Dunkerque, there's no doubt he could leave his mark also at the Grande Boucle.
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James2631826-12-2024 - Not sure that can be true, in that USA Cycling is part of the UCI.acem8226-12-2024
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