PRESSURE ISN’T JUST FOR TYRES
Bennett feels the burden of expectation as he braces for challenge of trying to build on his success
SAM BENNETT feels there is more pressure on him than ever now that he’s reached the top of his sport.
Having created history by winning the Tour de France’s green jersey last year, expectations have rocketed for Bennett in 2021.
With that in mind he has nothing but admiration for athletes who have got on top and stayed there.
“In some ways the pressure is a little bit released, I have done it on the biggest stage in cycling,” said the Waterfordborn sprinter.
“But on the other hand there is the pressure of expectation and that’s something I never really felt before this year.
“Because I went relatively unnoticed up until the Tour last year, all of a sudden as the Tour gathered momentum I couldn’t believe how crippling the sensation of having that expectation or the outcry behind you could be.
“So you have to have admiration for the likes of Katie Taylor (inset) and people like that who can go out again and again with that expectation and continue to perform.
“That comes
with
the territory this year – and also I always put a lot of pressure on myself.
“I always look to improve, I feel like I have a lot more to get out of myself and, yeah, I just want to try and do better again.”
Bennett, 30, admits 2020 was a stressful year – it began in Australia, took in the lockdown followed by the Tour de France then another Grand Tour, La Vuelta in Spain – and only ended in November.
He came home to Carrickon-suir for a few weeks at Christmas having already started his pre-season, with the
Milan-san Remo ‘monument’ race first in his cross-hairs.
Bennett knows he has to be in top condition for what’s to come now but he hasn’t relied on psychological support to aid his cause.
“I didn’t really talk to anyone about it,” he said. “It just never came up.
“I think it’s just like anything else, you just continue going through the motions.
“You do everything like you normally do and you just have to try to put it to the back of your mind and not look at the comments online and not let it get to you.
“You have to feed off
it, you can’t let it cripple you, you have to be able to deal with it and I think all great champions deal with it very, very well but it was just something very new to me last year.
“I hope it will come around. I think when the Tour de France comes I will feel it again but I’m going to have to be mature enough to deal with it and know that it comes with the territory.
“Often you see when you get pressure your legs turn to jelly but when you know the work is done, you race and after a while the legs come around again.
“You just have to keep going and try to forget about it.”