Sam Bennett back to form in Norway

Sam Bennett made a fine return to competition three weeks after retiring from the Tour de France, clocking up third place on the opening stage of the Arctic Race of Norway on Thursday.

The Carrick-on-Suir rider reached the finish in Harstad just behind two former Tour stage winners, with the Norwegian Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) taking victory ahead of his compatriot Edvald Boasson Hagen (MTN-Qhubeka).

Bennett’s performance showed that he has fully recovered after going very deep in his first Tour. A pre-race illness and related lack of competition meant that he went into the French race underprepared and under-raced, and he was on the back foot from the off.

More fatigued

He grew progressively more fatigued and eventually withdrew early on during stage 17.

However, although he was disappointed not to reach Paris, he went further than top sprinters Marcel Kittel (Giant-Alpecin) and Mark Cavendish (Etixx - Quick-Step) did in their first Tours. The German and the Briton only completed five and eight stages respectively, but then returned to the race in subsequent years to clock up multiple stage wins.

Bennett had never raced more than eight days in a row prior to starting the Tour. He stated during that event that he believed he would become a much stronger rider as a result of doing multiple days in the world’s biggest race.

It’s likely that he will become stronger in the days ahead. The second-year pro said prior to the start of the Arctic Race of Norway that he had been on antibiotics for nine days and that he was consequently lacking sharpness heading into the event.

He showed little signs of that on Thursday and directeur sportif Andre Schulze said that the result was an encouraging one. "We can be very satisfied with this opening," he said. "For Sam and us it was important to see where he stands after the Tour de France. It was a pretty heavy finale and you have to be in good shape to finish on the podium. This makes us optimistic for the coming days."

The race runs until Sunday. After that, his racing schedule will see him ride the Cyclassics Hamburg on August 23rd , the Tour of Alberta from September 1st to 6th and the GP Cycliste de Québec and the GP Cycliste de Montréal races on September 11th and 13th.

If those events go well, he is a logical selection for the world road race championships in Richmond, USA, towards the end of the month.

In other news, Dan Martin will leave the Cannondale-Garmin team after spending his entire pro career thus far as part of the American squad. His new team will be confirmed in the near future.