Sam Bennett fighting fit as he faces into second half of season

Returning to UCI-ranked races after a long block away, Sam Bennett believes he is fitter than he was in the first part of the year and he will be able to add to the victories he has already stacked up in his first pro season.

The 23-year-old rider has had a very successful debut thus far, winning the Clasica de Almeria in March, the Rund um Köln in April and stage five of Bayern Rundfarht in June. He followed that up with a kermesse victory in Belgium.

Despite that, he said that he felt he was not in as good physical shape as when he took a stage and finished second in two others in last September’s Tour of Britain.

Once his NetApp Endura team decided not to select him for the Tour de France due to his youth, he resolved to use July to build up his physical condition. Speaking to The Irish Times, Bennett believes that has been achieved. "I had one week completely off, then did three weeks straight with no day break. It was a massive block, and now I'm trying to get race speed again.

“In the past week I did a criterium last Tuesday, a criterium on Saturday and then a kermesse [circuit race] on Sunday. It took me two hours to get going in the latter, but I felt good after that. I’m glad to have those races in my legs as I think they will have sharpened me up for my next race, the RideLondon Classic on Sunday.”

While Bennett has clearly demonstrated his rapid finishing speed in races this year, he believes the stronger race fitness he has been building should bring additional benefits. In addition to being better able to cope with difficult courses, it should also have another plus.

“It should mean I have more in my legs when it gets to the end, and that should translate into faster sprinting speed.”

Seven Irish riders

The Prudential RideLondon Classic is set to include seven Irish riders. Bennett will be joined by Peter Hawkins (Madison Genesis), Felix English (Rapha Condor JLT), Ryan Mullen and Sean Downey (both An Post Chainreaction Sean Kelly), plus Matt Brammeier and Connor McConvey (both Synergy Baku).

After that event, Bennett will ride the Tour of Norway. He said he didn’t want to name specific targets, but had one clear goal in mind.

“I have a number in my head in terms of the amount of wins I would like to get out of the season,” he said . . . “I’ll try to ride as well as possible in every race I do and to have a stronger second half to the season.”