Sam Bennett’s condition is improving and the team is confident the Irishman can deliver during the remaining stages on Tour of Turkey, Bora-hansgrohe directeur Bernie Eisel has said.
Bennett is still searching for his first win of the season and today the Carrick-on-Suir man suggested he simply picked the wrong wheel in the final dash to the line at the end of stage 2 and so had to settle for 3rd.
He was behind yesterday’s stage winner Caleb Ewan coming into the sprint, but when the Lotto-Soudal rider failed to fire on all cylinders, it left his Irish rival scrambling for a ‘Plan B’.
Kaden Groves (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin Fenix) had no such problems and took 1st and 2nd, with Bennett just behind them for the final spot on the podium today.
“It was a very fast finale due to the tailwind,” Bennett
said of the bunch sprint today. “The fight for positions was quite hard and
there have been also some crashes, but the boys did once again a great job to
keep me out of trouble the whole day, and also in the end they have been
amazing.
“After the last corner I was sitting in Danny’s (van
Poppel) wheel and the position was very good. When Caleb (Ewan) opened his
sprint, he wasn’t fresh enough and didn’t really accelerate which surprised me,
so I got stuck a little behind him while on the right side (Jasper) Philipsen
and (Kaden) Groves passed.
“I tried to accelerate but it was already too late. But I am happy with the progression over the last weeks, and I am not far away from being really competitive again. I still miss a little top end power, but it is getting better and better.”
For his part, Eisel said he was happy with how the team had
done and he also said Bennett is not too far off reaching the top spot of the
podium this year.
“The team did a good job again today. It was important to
be up front when it mattered in the crosswind, and we have been safe there,” he
said. “A final with tailwind is always tricky. It was super nervous, but our
lead-out worked really well.
“Also Sam is getting better and better. He just was sitting in the wrong wheel today. I think we can be happy with his progress, and I am optimistic for the remaining sprint stages.”
