Fastman Sam

Irish sprinter Sam Bennett looks set to become the next Sean Kelly if he keeps on delivering for the Bora-Hansgrohe WorldTour team

- Gregor Brown

Sam Bennett’s progression to becoming one of the peloton’s fastest sprinters continued apace throughout 2017. A stage win at Paris-Nice in spring followed by a string of top-three placings in the Giro d’Italia confirmed his steadily growing status. But it was at the Tour of Turkey in mid-October that he really hit the headlines, winning four of the six stages.

He may not have faced the strongest opposition in Turkey, but the flurry of WorldTour points he earned there catapulted him to 65th in the rankings, Bora-Hansgrohe’s third best rider after Rafal Majka (43rd) and the one and only Peter Sagan (third). While it looks like there is more to come from the 27-year-old Irishman, this season already looks like payback for his dogged determination, something he has shown from an early age.

Despite his father Michael encouraging him toward a career in football, a sport the former played professionally, Bennett chose cycling. He shone from an early age, taking a junior European title on the track in 2008. The following year a head-on crash with a car while training left him with imbalances and tendonitis, for which he eventually underwent two rounds of knee surgery.

Riding with Sagan 

Following two years as an amateur with VC La Pomme Marseille, Sean Kelly’s An Post team gave him his first break in 2011, and despite lingering problems from injuries, he persevered.