Another in the line of riders announcing their early season racing plan is the new acquistion of Decathlon AG2R La Monidale Team - Sam Bennett. The Irish sprinter built up a solid reputation for his performances on the bike, but more recently also for troublesome relationships with team managments, which saw the 33-year-old change outfits more often than he would've probably liked over the past few years.
Joining the French World Tour team, Bennett longs for a fresh start in brand new environment. To talk about a restart of his career - that's not very likely to happen at this point, but even a big World Tour (stage) victory would be more than welcome for Bennett.
First obstacle in his quest for stage wins will be the returning 2.Pro Tour de la Provence. Next on the menu would be UAE Tour, a race that traditionally presents multiple sprinting opportunities and where Bennett won three stages already (2019 and 2021). Even greater palmares await the Irish speedster at Paris-Nice, where he had raised his hands five times in the past.
Sam Bennett's early 2024 schedule:
Tour de la Provence (February 8-11)
UAE Tour (February 19-25)
Paris-Nice (March 3-10)
Tour de la Provence (February 8-11)
UAE Tour (February 19-25)
Paris-Nice (March 3-10)
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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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- disagreed. in this year's tdf he was unable to ride away from the young guns in the stages before his crash. there were several riders at least close to, if not on, his level in the second week: seixas, remco, del toro, lipo. next year jonas is a year older and the younger riders gained a year of experience and strength. if you then try to skip part of the high altitude training ... i doubt that jonas will make the podium at tdf 27. for sure he is not the favourite for runner up. he will be in the mix, yes. but not THE favourite for 2nd place.Ketterechts15-11-2026
- That means you're Austrian, like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was born close to Gradc, very close to Maribor. We used to do a lot of shopping in Gradc in the 70's and 80's, when Slovenia was still a part of communist Yugoslavia. Today we have good relationships with the Austrians. Many Slovenians are working there.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- headline criticism agreed. but otherwise he certainly has a point. you can negotiate extra perks if you are way above he rest ... however, these times have long gone ...Ketterechts15-11-2026
- WTF is Pogi's hater Zonneveld talking about??? He was against Pogi waving to Slovenian fans from an organisation car as fans caught a glimpse of Pogi at the European Championships in Slovenia. The S.O.B. couldn't resist poking fun at his attention-grabbing appearance. What Zonneveld says has no relevance.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- ❤️Lozza15-11-2026
- The greatest ever is a crazy claim. But in discussions about sport in our local media, among people with no particular interest in cycling, he has been the first person they've thought of when giving examples of exceptional athletes.Hills3315-11-2026
- Urska may be less keen on a cafe if keeping it afloat will fall to her, so maybe just a nice dream!Hills3315-11-2026
- Raise thine hand if the money you have made for retirement slips away on poor investments.Most of us will outlive our financial comforts because we don't have the financial acumen to ensure a comfortable lifelong retirement and that is a statistical fact not my opinion.Many millionaires have pissed their money away or had it taken away by so called conniving "financial advisors".The world of wealth is a dangerous place that most of us will never experience nor appreciate.
Brucegel15-11-2026 - You are interested in Pogi for one reason only, you feel like you are somehow related because you share some vague geographical identity. Other than that you have very little interest in cycling as all your posts show, if it can’t be connected to Pogi you have nothing to post. That said, recent activity here shows we are attracting quite a crowd from his region.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
- From knowing past cycling stars with shops I can only say, think it through. Not only is it mundane after a while but it really doesn’t take you out of the limelight, in the end you’ll be trying to stay away from the place yourself whilst all your fans keep coming for you.Jumpyjohn15-11-2026
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📅 Le programme de début de saison de @Sammmy_Be 👇 🇫🇷 Tour de la Provence 🇦🇪 @uae_tour 🇫🇷 @ParisNice 📅 @Sammmy_Be's first race program 👇 🇫🇷 Tour de la Provence 🇦🇪 @uae_tour 🇫🇷 @ParisNice #DECATHLONAG2RLAMONDIALETEAM
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