"We gambled a bit in the finale" - Sam Bennett carries speed but misses out on win at Tour of Guangxi
Cycling
It has not been the best of seasons for Sam Bennett and his relationship with BORA - hansgrohe can be described the same way. However, he wants to end his stint with the team on a high note, and he came close to take a win this morning at the Tour of Guangxi.
“After a tough couple of weeks with sickness and so much missed training, I’m quite happy to be back on the podium here," Bennett said in a post-race interview. Given the lead of the team in the flat stages, Bennett does not have Danny van Poppel here but does have a few riders racing in his support and the German team was present in the finale of the opening stage. It was a chaotic situation for many sprinters, Bennett gambled with a late sprint and ended up third on the day.
"Due to the wide roads and headwinds, we gambled a bit in the finale and had to come late. The boys did a perfect job moving up in the last 2.5km. 300m from the finish line, I was held up a tiny bit but we surfed our way through and I came out with good speed in the end," he describes. "Kicking off a race with a podium is always nice!”
The helicopter camera revealed the Irishman to be coming with a lot of speed from behind in what was a sprint kicked off early by Jonathan Milan, however his dash to the line came too late to make the difference. With bonifications in the bag and another bunch sprint expected for tomorrow however, both stage win and race lead are in the cards for the 32-year old.
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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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🇨🇳 #TOG2023 Viviani takes stage 1 @TourofGuangxi and it’s 🥉 for @Sammmy_Be 👏🏼
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