Sam Bennett preparing for world championships after Tour de France snub

Having been passed over for selection for the Tour de France by his team and then bouncing back with two wins and a second place on stages of the recent Sibiu Tour in Romania, Sam Bennett is currently training hard in advance of cycling’s world championships next month.

The Carrick-on-Suir rider has set the road race championships in Glasgow on August 6th as a target and is training at altitude to further build his form. Irish team duties aside, his race programme with his Bora-Hangrohe squad is yet to be determined at this point in time.

Bennett has won 10 Grand Tour stages in the past, including two stages in the 2020 Tour de France and in last year’s Vuelta a España.

Meanwhile Liam O’Brien retained his yellow jersey of race leadership at the Eurocycles Eurobaby Junior Tour of Ireland on Tuesday, netting a fine third on stage two. The Team Ireland rider sprinted in just behind Hudson Lubbers (Ignite Canada) and Matthew Gilmour (Bäckstedt Bike Performance) at the end of the 103 kilometre stage from Spanish Point to Ennis Bypass.

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Eleven riders finished in the same time, with one other three seconds back. These were part of a dozen-strong breakaway group which pushed ahead with 20km remaining. The move followd an early breakaway by Joseph Mullen (Team Leinster), Darragh Magee (Tarrant Skoda) and Killian O’Brien (Team Ireland). These were recaptured around the halfway point of the stage, with the winning break then going inside the final half hour of racing.

O’Brien is 12 seconds clear of Hudson Lubbers (Ignite Canada) and a further four ahead of Matthew Gilmour (Backstedt Bike Performance). The next eight riders are 22 scond back.

In addition to wearing the yellow jersey, O’Brien is also the leader in the points classification. Charles Bergerson (Ignite Canada) is the King of the Mountains leader after winning the primes atop the category 3 climb at Bawnslieve and the category two Cliffs of Moher.

The race continues on Wednesday with a 93.7km stage from Ennis to Kilkee.

Eurocycles Eurobaby Junior Tour of Ireland

Stage 2: Spanish Point to Ennis Bypass: 1 Hudson Lubbers (Ignite Canada) 103km in 2h24′40, 2 M Gilmour (Bäckstedt Bike Performance), 3 L O’Brien (Ireland), 4 A Foster (Innovation Racing), 5 B Stokes (Hot Tubes Cycling)

Category 3 climb at Bawnslieve: 1 Charles Bergerson (Ignite Canada) 5pts, 2 L Wong (Team California Blue) 3, 3 A Fletcher (Innovation Racing) 1

Category 2 climb at Cliffs of Moher: 1 Charles Bergerson (Ignite Canada) 9pts, 2 C Neil (Cycling Ulster) 7, 3 K Colling (Ignite Canada) 5, 4 C Salisbury (Isle of Man) 3

Team stage: 1 Ignite Canada 7h14′29, 2 Hot Tubes, 3 Innovation Racing, 29″, 4 Ireland, 5 Prologue Racing Team

General classification after two stages: 1 Liam O’Brien (Ireland) 3 hours 25′33, 2 H Lubbers (Ignite Canada) 12″, 3 M Gilmour (Backstedt Bike Performance) 16″, 4 B Stokes (Hot Tubes) 22″, 5 K Colling (Ignite Canada)

Points competition: 1 Liam O’Brien (Ireland) 28, 2 H Lubbers (Ignite Canada) 23, 3 B Stokes (Hot Tubes) 23, 4 C Bergerson (Ignite Canada) 17, 5 M Gilmour (Bäckstedt Bike Performance Jrt) 14

Mountains competition: 1 Charles Bergerson (Ignite Canada) 14, 2 C Neil (Cycling Ulster) 7, 3 K Colling (Ignite Canada) 5, 4 C Salibury (Isle of Man) 3, 5 L Wong (Team California Blue) 3

Young rider: 1 Joel Hurt (Prologue Racing Team) 3 hours 26′24, 2 J Watkins (Innovation Racing), 3 E Lattimore (Tarrant Skoda Red), 4 B Buenfeld (VC Venta), 5 J Harris (Ignite Canada)

Team: 1 Ignite Canada 10 hours 18′06, 2 Hot Tubes 8″, 3 Ireland 29″, 4 Innovation Racing 37″, 5 Prologue Racing Team