Sam Bennett (cyclist)

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The basics

Quick facts

Intro

Irish racing cyclist

Gender:

Male

Places:

Ireland

Is:

Athlete Sport cyclist Track cyclist

Work field:

Sports

Birth:

16 October 1990(Wervik, West Flanders, Flemish Region, Belgium)

Star sign:

Libra

The details

Biography

Introduction

Sam Bennett (born October 16, 1990) is a Belgium-born Irish professional cyclist, who won the European Junior Points Race Championship in 2008 and has represented the Irish National team in the 2009 Tour of Ireland. He currently rides for Bora–Hansgrohe.

Career

Early career

Bennett was born in Wervik, Belgium, where his father Michael played professional soccer for local club Eendracht Wervik. He moved with his parents to their native Ireland at the age of four, where he spent most of his early years growing up in Carrick-on-Suir, the hometown of fellow cyclist Sean Kelly. Bennett finished the 2011 season ranked 293rd on the UCI Europe Tour with 55 ranking points. In 2012, he had several fine results including three top 10 stage results at the Tour of Britain and a third place at Ronde van Noord; the results helped Bennett to a 2012 UCI Europe Tour final rank of 267th with 57 points.

2013 season

After several positive results in late summer, he was selected to represent Ireland at the 2013 World Road Race Championships along with Dan Martin, Nicolas Roche and Matt Brammeier. Prior to the World Championships, he contested the Tour of Britain as part of the An Post–Chain Reaction team. He finished second to MTN–Qhubeka's Gerald Ciolek on the second stage into Kendal, having attacked on a 15% climb around 400 m (1,300 ft) from the finish, before being passed by Ciolek on the final straight. Bennett later won the fifth stage into Caerphilly, taking a sprint finish out of an elite group of fifteen riders. He ended the tour with a second-place finish in stage eight, losing to Mark Cavendish in London.

2015 season

Bennett was involved in a mass crash at the end of the 2015 edition of Scheldeprijs. He was named in the start list for the 2015 Tour de France.

2016 season

Bennett's 2016 Tour de France effort concluded with the lanterne rouge, finishing 174th in the general classification after falling 5 hours, 17 minutes and 14 seconds behind the winning time, but he finished.

2017 season

On 7 March Bennett won Stage 3 of the 2017 Paris–Nice, ahead of Alexander Kristoff, John Degenkolb, Marcel Kittel, Michael Matthews, Arnaud Demare, and Andre Greipel in a sprint finish.