Bennett on a mission to evade his Slovak shadow
PETER SAGAN’s long-term ownership of the Tour de France’s green jersey has been such that some of the roadside spectators last week simply assumed that Sam Bennett was the successful Slovak when they spotted the ‘maillot vert’ in the peloton. The affable Irishman related how some locals were shouting ‘Sagan!’ at him.
Bennett should be getting more comfortable in green now, not just because he holds a strong lead over his main rival, but because with each day on this Tour it has looked more and more like a perfect fit.
Sagan holds the record for number of green jerseys, having won seven of the previous eight. The only blot on his record was disqualification in 2017 for being overly-aggressive in a sprint with Mark Cavendish – something that came back to haunt him last Wednesday, as a shoulder barge in the sprint finish saw him relegated from second to 85th on the stage.
The plan by Sagan and his Bora-Hansgrohe team-mates worked well yesterday, and in dropping Bennett out of contention and finishing fourth on the stage, it’s clear the Slovakian will not give up the fight for the maillot vert until the Tour is going down the Champs-Élysée.
In a sport that has been holding out for a hero, Sagan has had that role thrust upon him over the past decade. His celebrity status has been enhanced by his three World Championship crowns and the seven green jerseys – such was his dominance in the Tour that organisers altered the points classification. To use an analogy from another sport, Sagan is more Cristiano Ronaldo than Lionel Messi, in that it is more his relentless drive and addiction to winning that has kept him at the top.
Indeed, soccer is a good device for illustrating Sagan’s popularity. As Stephen Kenny prepares Ireland to face Slovakia in next month’s Euro 2020 play-off, it is interesting to note that neither Marek Hamsik nor Martin Dubravka are the country’s most popular sporting figure. Instead, it is the tall, slender black-haired cyclist with the look of a dishevelled rock star. He has started his own cycling academy in his native Zilna and also sponsors a huge youth race in the country.
And that’s whose crown Bennett is preparing to take as the Tour enters its final week. He left BoraHansgrohe last year for Deceuninck-QuickStep as he was always going to be No2 to Sagan in that team. It will make going into Paris in green, ahead of the Slovakian all the sweeter.
Not that Bennett will be thinking like that. The Carrick-on-Suir native’s endearing TV interview after he realised his lifelong dream of a stage victory last Tuesday has earned him a whole plethora of new fans, but that humility and down-toearth attitude has been a defining characteristic of his cycling career. Speaking to this newspaper after he signed with Deceuninck-QuickStep, we suggested that Bennett had joined one of the biggest teams in cycling because he was known as one of the sport’s best sprinters.
‘I find it funny when people say that about me or when I see it written that I am among the best sprinters in the world because I don’t feel like that,’ Bennett replied at the time with a chuckle.
‘I still think there is plenty I can improve on. And I think it is an Irish thing, too. There are two things that you can’t do if you are Irish. We can’t talk ourselves up and we can’t take compliments. We are not allowed to talk about ourselves, or else we might be considered arrogant, and someone will be there to take you down a peg or two’
There, in a nutshell, is the reason why so many people have warmed to Bennett in the past week – and why he is fast becoming the Irish sports story of this strangest of years. It’s also why some of us got a little annoyed by Bradley Wiggins’ ill-judged attempt at banter with Seán Kelly during the week, when he spoke of Britain claiming Bennett.
Even though he is 29 now and his performances on the Tour ensure he is considered one of cycling’s finest sprinters, there remains a boyishness about Bennett, as if he can’t quite believe he’s getting paid to ride his bike as fast as he can.
During the Giro d’Italia in 2018, where he claimed three stage wins, Bennett’s boyish enthusiasm came to the fore after he scaled the feared Mount Zoncolan, a summit in a remote part of the Eastern Dolomites that is reckoned to be the toughest climb in the sport.
As Chris Froome left the rest of the Giro field for dead on the brutal ascent, a smiling Bennett was entertaining the crowds at the back of the peloton, doing more than a dozen wheelies.
It showed a rider who possessed a sense of fun and was totally at ease with the world.
It wasn’t always that way.
The Waterford man has been talked about as a special talent since his teens in Carrick. He won a stage in the Rás while still in his teens and knitted together a decent amateur career in France.
However, an accident on his bike when he collided with a car outside Windgap in Co. Kilkenny in 2010 halted his progress. His father Michael, a former professional footballer, saw his own sporting career cut short by a knee injury and Bennett thought something similar would happen to him.
He had just signed his first professional contract but the accident had turned his world upside down – he hadn’t been wearing a helmet and was unconscious for nine hours
‘THEY BROUGHT ME BACK TO FULL STRENGTH ... I’LL NEVER FORGET IT’
after the collision. There followed a number of injury-plagued years, including surgery on both of his knees and a fracture in his lower back. In 2013, such was the constant battle with injuries, he considered giving up the sport.
He rebuilt his career and has highlighted how Seán Kelly took a punt on him by bringing him into the An Post team. Bennett rewarded his faith by winning a stage in the 2013 Tour of Britain, opening the path for him to join NetApp.
‘After that accident, my career was over if someone didn’t take me under their wing. They supported me and brought me back to full strength. I will never forget how they took on an injured rider,’ Bennett remembered last December.
And now, he’s on the verge of emulating four-time green jersey winner Kelly.
There’s just the not-so-small matter of shaking off Peter Sagan over the coming week.