Sam Bennett set to make debut in Milan-San Remo race

Sam Bennett continues his bid to gain experience prior to his first Tour de France with the Irish sprinter set to make his debut in Milan-San Remo this weekend.

The Carrick-on-Suir rider will be part of the Bora-Argon 18 team’s line-up for Sunday’s Classic, which is one of the most prestigious one-day races on the calendar. Former pro Seán Kelly, also from Carrick-on-Suir, won the race in 1986 and 1992.

The difficultly of the event means that Bennett will likely need a few more years to challenge; that’s fine for the 24-year-old, who has time on his side. He has already underlined his ability with a series of pro wins, including victory this season on the final stage of the Tour of Qatar.

He was also third on stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico last week.

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The 2010 An Post Rás winner Alexander Wetterhall has been confirmed as returning to this year's race, with the 28 year-old heading up the Swedish Tre Berg-Bianchi squad in the event.

“We come to race for an overall victory and to hunt for stages,” said former professional Thomas Löfkvist, who will manage the squad.

Wetterhall is likely to be joined by two-time Swedish criterium champion Sebastian Balck and Lucas Eriksson. The team will likely be completed by 2013 Memorial Pigoni Coli runner-up Kim Magnusson and Niklas Gustavsson.

Also announced as riding the event is the Australian Subaru Albion team. It is targeting a stage win plus a top-10 overall; Irish rider Anthony Murray will likely be the general classification rider, and will be joined by the 2013 Sydney road champion Keegan Aitchison, 2013 New Zealand under-23 road champion Richard Lawson plus Daniel Molyneaux and Morgan Smith.

“As this is our third year riding the Rás, we will definitely be looking for a stage win,” said David Early, who will be working with the team. “Anthony Murray is looking to improve on last year’s result. He is targeting a top-10 overall in the GC.”

The 2015 An Post Rás will begin in Dunboyne on May 17th and will feature stage finishes in Carlow, Tipperary, Bearna, Newport, Ballina, Ballinamore, Drogheda and Skerries.

Finally, world under 23 time-trial silver medallist Ryan Mullen will return to road racing today with his An Post Chainreaction team. Mullen, who has mainly focussed on track racing this season, will join fellow Irish riders Jack Wilson and Conor Dunne in the Handzame Classic in Belgium. Wilson and Dunne will then be part of the squad in tomorrow's Ronde Van Zeeland Seaports in the Netherlands.