Sam Bennett targeting a stage win in 100th Giro d’Italia

Sam Bennett will line out in the Giro d’Italia in Sardinia on Friday with one clear goal in mind: winning his first stage in a three week Grand Tour.

Bennett will spearhead the Bora-hansgrohe team in the bunch gallops and hopes to repeat the speed which he showed earlier this year in winning stage three of Paris-Nice.

“I am looking forward to this Giro d’Italia,” the Carrick-on-Suir rider said this week. “It’s the 100th edition which is very special to be part of.

“My preparations went pretty good with the altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada, where I could do my training very individually this time. Of course, my goal is to win a stage. After my first WorldTour win in Paris-Nice, I am ready to take my first stage in a Grand Tour.”

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Bennett has twice ridden the Tour de France but was hit by bad luck on both occasions. He was ill in the run-up to the 2015 event and also became sick during the race, eventually withdrawing in the final week. Last year he crashed on the opening stage, suffered a fracture to his hand and limped through the event due to his injuries.

He was ninth in the final stage in Paris and went on to win a stage plus the points classification in the Giro della Toscana plus Paris-Bourges.

Bad luck

It is uncertain if Bennett will ride the Tour de France this year. However he said last December that his bad luck at the event meant he could see value in having a different focus in 2017 before returning to the French race in 2018.

World champion Peter Sagan will target the Tour de France and will have the team’s backing in the sprints there.

In other news, Irish U-23 road race champion Michael O’Loughlin has been confirmed as making his An Post Rás debut this month.

The 20-year-old rider will line out as part of the Team Wiggins squad, along with Britons Andy Tennant, Chris Latham, Joey Walker and Nathan Draper.

“Michael O’Loughlin is one of the most talented young Irish riders and will have a bright future,” said race director Tony Campbell. “He is a natural attacker, so the An Post Rás should suit him very well.”

Also confirmed was another British team, Madison-Genesis. The final line-up will be confirmed closer to the race but for now, Britons Matt Holmes, Erick Roswell and Joe Evans look likely to start on May 21st, along with the Kiwi Taylor Gunman and France’s Alex Blain.