To celebrate the launch of ŠKODA's new cycling website - welovecycling.ie - Off The Ball have taken a look at Ireland's newest sporting superstar is Sam Bennett!
Sam is currently tearing up the Tour of Turkey as the second stage leader. We take a look at Bennett's life and career - an unusual ride in itself.
We are so proud of these two guys and we just can't stop smiling watching this photo 🤩
Today @gro_felix won the leader jersey of @tourofturkeyTUR and @Sammmy_Be took the sprint jersey.
WHAT a Easter! WHAT a team! pic.twitter.com/rZPfbP1veK— Terre di Ger (@TerrediGer) April 21, 2019
Bennett had sport in his blood from day one, born in Belgium to Irish parents as his father was playing soccer there for local Flanders club Eendracht Wervik. In an interview with The42, Bennett spoke of being quite an introverted child, particularly after moving back to Ireland aged four:
"I hid in my room and played the Playstation as a kid. I used to play around on the bike alright, but I was very quiet. I suppose in one sense sport and cycling was something that gave me my identity. I got confidence through sport and I think it’s something sport can give everybody."
Having moved back to Carrick-on-Suir, Bennett's talent for cycling was picked up by Vélo Club la Pomme in Marseille - perhaps alerted to talents from the town after the emergence of Sean Kelly in the very same environs. In another peripatetic move, Bennett moved to Marseille aged 17 to pursue his career in cycling, but only once he had completed the first year of his college career in the field of Health and Exercise Studies at Waterford Institute of Technology.
Once 2009 rolled around, Sam was ready to ride in the An Post Rás with the Carrick Wheelers, under the guidance of Dan Morrissey. In an incredible show of precociousness, Bennett became the youngest-ever stage winner in Clara on stage 5, to set tongues wagging that he might be the next big thing in Irish cycling.
Success again was not far away. During the 2010 season, Bennett went on to win the Irish under-23 championship in Sligo at the age of 19, before leaving France the next year to join Kelly's An Post-Grant Thornton squad under Kurt Bogaerts. He went on to win the under-23s again, adding the GP Stad Geel - a one-day race in Belgium.
In 2015, Bennett suffered setbacks when he was involved in a major crash in the Scheldeprijs race, before having to race with a hernia during the 2015 Tour de France. He had to abandon the race halfway through due to the injury. Injury hampered the following season in 2016, where he broke fingers on his right hand during another crash, but went on to take two stage ins at the Giro Della Toscana - winning the points classification.
The Tour of Turkey has been kind to Bennett in years gone by, where he won four out of six stages in 2017, but the real break-out to put Sam Bennett on the map was last year. He started 2018 in strong form, going into the world-famous Giro D'Italia, one of the hardest races in the world. In May, he crowned his success with a maiden grand tour win by winning a sprint in Praia a Mare, and went on to win the stages in Imola and the final stage in Rome.
In a sport that has been blighted by controversy over recent years, Sam Bennett has been one of the breakout stars, and the future looks bright for one of Ireland's most promising sportsmen.
For those cyclists, serious and casual, there are tips and hints for all at welovecycling.ie. You can like welovecycling.ie on their Facebook page, or follow them on Instagram.
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