Sam Bennett ninth in opening time trial in Deutschland Tour

Sam Bennett got the Deutschland Tour off to a strong start on Wednesday, finishing ninth in the prologue held in Sankt Wendel. He completed the 2.3km distance five seconds off the winning time of Ethan Vernon (Soudal-QuickStep), showing he has recovered from the stomach problems which saw him withdraw from the Bemer Cyclassics event on Sunday.

Bennett had hoped to ride the Vuelta a España but his Bora-hansgrohe team has instead put him in a race programme which includes the Deutschland Tour plus the Tour of Britain, which starts on September 3rd. He won two stages in the Vuelta a España last year.

Bennett was also not selected for the Tour de France and is thought likely to leave the team at the end of the season, with the French Ag2r Citroën squad appearing to be the most likely destination.

His goal in the Deutschland Tour will be to chase a stage victory, as well as building form prior to the Tour of Britain.

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In France, Archie Ryan had an encouraging showing on stage four of the Tour de l’Avenir, finishing seventh into Evaux-les-Bains. The 21 year-old Wicklow rider was part of a 32 man group sprinting for the win after a final hour of racing featuring a number of small climbs.

Ryan had hoped to aim for the general classification in the race but lost time with a crash on Monday and then with a distant performance by the Irish squad in Tuesday’s team time trial. The squad was down one man after the illness-prompted withdrawal of Dean Harvey, and was also hampered by the after-effects of crashes by Ryan, Odhran Doogan and Patrick O’Loughlin on Monday.

Jamie Meehan remains the best-placed Irish rider overall in 32nd place, two minutes behind the race leader Simon Dalby of Denmark. Ryan moves up 31 places to 41st overall, and should make further progress when the big mountain stages begin on Friday. The race runs until Sunday.

Meanwhile talented young Irishman Liam O’Brien has been awarded a place with the new development team aligned to the Lidl-Trek WorldTour squad. The 18 year-old has ridden well this season, taking silver medals in the national road race and time trial championships, netting fourth in the 2.1-ranked Sint Martinusprijs Kontich stage race in Belgium, and also netting sixth on the time trial stage and 10th overall in the Tour de Himmelfart in Denmark. Twelfth in the junior Liège-Bastogne-Liège was another promising sign.

The squad will be a UCI Continental team, will be based in Deinze, Belgium, and will provide accommodation to the young riders, including in Girona, Spain. It will be a feeder squad to the WorldTour team, putting O’Brien in an ideal position to progress his career.

“We were attracted to Liam because he is a strong, multidisciplined rider,” team manager Markel Irizar told The Irish Times on Wednesday. “Coming from cyclocross, he is also good uphill and possesses a very good TT [time trial] as he showed at the World Championships.”

O’Brien took 11th place there just under two weeks ago.

Former pro Irizar said that the team will give him time to settle in and learn the ropes. “We will see how it goes without rushing his development. He is a well-rounded, complete rider who has potential to perform well in stage races, which test all areas,” he stated. “We will try to support him to get the best growth and performance from him.”

At home, Mia Griffin showed she is returning to form after being sidelined by concussion, winning the women’s title at the national criterium championships on Tuesday evening. The Israel Premier Tech rider beat Marine Lenehan (Team Dan Morrissey – Primor by Pissei) in a sprint to the line in Mondello, with Eve McCrystal (Bellurgan Wheelers) netting bronze ahead of Erin Grace Creighton (McConvey Cycles) and Annalise Murphy (Longcourt Hotel – NCW Wheelers).

John Buller (Team PB Performance) defended the title he took last year, outsprinting Conor Murnane (UCD Cycling Club), Leo Doyle (Arbo – Headstart On Fahrrad), Luke Smith (Moynalty Cycling Club), Javan Nulty (Unattached) and many others to the line in the men’s event.

National Criterium Championships, Mondello Park, Co Kildare

Men: 1 John Buller (Team PB Performance) 1 hour 8 mins 21, 2 C Murnane (UCD Cycling Club), 3 L Doyle (Arbo – Headstart On Fahrrad), 4 L Smith (Moynalty Cycling Club), 5 J Nulty (Unattached) all same time.

Women: 1 Mia Griffin (Israel Premier Tech Roland) 51 mins 20 secs, 2 M Lenehan (Team Dan Morrissey – Primor by Pissei), 3 E McCrystal (Bellurgan Wheelers) at 1 sec, 4 E Grace Creighton (McConvey Cycles), 5 A Murphy (Longcourt Hotel – NCW Wheelers) both same time.