INTO THE SPOTLIGHT

As Sam Bennett steps up to become a team leader at Deceuninck-Quick Step, he tells Shane Stokes about his fresh start

- Shane Stokes

It’s a new decade, and a fresh start for Sam Bennett. When the flag dropped at the start of the Schwalbe Classic on Sunday, the 29-year-old Irishman began what could and should be his best season to date. He’s previously played second fiddle to other riders at German team Bora- Hansgrohe, despite being arguably the fastest sprinter in the peloton, and now he has a point to prove.

Bennett moved to Deceuninck-Quick Step over the winter and will have the squad’s full backing in key events this season. The squad is both respected and feared within the peloton; it has a knack of putting riders in exactly the right place at exactly the right time and Bennett will have it at his disposal.

The effects on his career should be massive. At Bora-Hansgrohe he had to make way for Peter Sagan in races such as the Tour de France. The Slovak is arguably the slower of the two over the final 200 metres, but his versatility has enabled him to dominate the green jersey competition in the Tour. In 2017 and 2018 Bora sent Sagan to the Tour, Bennett to the Giro. In 2019, the Irishman found himself yielding ground to yet another rider, with the younger, less experienced — but German — Pascal Ackermann getting the nod for the Giro.