Sam Bennett's coach assures Irishman has big goals left to conquer: "He wants win the points jersey in the Vuelta. He wants to win the points jersey in the Giro"

Sam Bennett is looking to bounce back up the ranks of cycling and will hope to do it with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team. The Irishman still has plenty ambitions left in his career, and his coach reveals what some of them are.

“Over the past year or two he didn’t achieve what he what he felt he could achieve,” Bennett's coach Stephen Barrett said in an interview with The Irish Times. “I think there’s that misconception that maybe he is past it. That there’s some better, younger, faster guys. But knowing Sam, and also from speaking to him now, I have no sense that he’s here to take the easy way out."

Bennett has endured two difficult years with BORA - hansgrohe, where he had great support but often lacked the necessary form. Now, into 2024, he moves to a team that will present very different challenges, but he will have renewed motivation to perform and a team that will back him up as the main sprint option. “From day one, he’s said he wants to win the green jersey. He wants win the points jersey in the Vuelta. He wants to win the points jersey in the Giro."

"He has all these big ambitions still, because he knows he’s capable of doing that. I think we’ll see a refreshed Sam in his new colours in 2024. For me, what’s important is that he can execute and achieve what he’s capable of doing," Barrett concludes. Currently, the Irish fast man is training with his new team, but no plans have yet been made public on where he will begin his season.