Sam Bennett - no same day spoilers

breezy1985 · 31-07-2021 9:12am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117684266#Comment_117684266

Your United analogy doesn't work. Cycling despite being steam sport has individual winners so unless that older striker can win the FA cup and a season full of games by himself which no footballer can it just doesn't work

Bennett couldn't stay at DQS without a pay cut because they have Ala and Remco to pay so it was no F up by Bennett or McQuaid. Outside of the 4 top top teams Bennett definitely has enough clout to tell the likes of Bora or Confidis that he will only sign with the TdF as a target

TheBlaaMan · 31-07-2021 10:09am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685682#Comment_117685682

Wow.... that's pretty caustic stuff. Cycling - especially amongst some Belgians - is apparently still a prehistoric macho scene and Lefevre clearly feels its ok to speak like that. Not sure if that says more about him, or the sport at large - you would hope he suffers a personal backlash for such comments. Where is the UCI in all this?

AxleAddict · 31-07-2021 11:48am

Yikes! Well, if bridges weren't already burnt at this stage, then they're practically a smouldering pile of ashes at the bottom of the gorge now. It's good to see that Sam (thus far) isn't rising to the bait and is keeping schtum - although it will be really interesting to get his side of the story at some point in time - I'm sure we'll hear more in due course. I wonder where Patrick Lefevre stands legally with all these shenanigans - surely he can't continue to make public character assassinations like this with impunity, can he?

At the very least, this distasteful episode should be a warning to both existing (and potential future) DQS riders - it seems Paddy has no qualms about throwing riders under the bus and them reversing over them a couple of times for good measure.

breezy1985 · 31-07-2021 11:56am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685955#Comment_117685955

The newspaper he writes these articles for is a trashy "Sun" type right wing tabloid so if sure they will have no problem with his "old school hard lad" $h1t and I don't see Quickstep going but it would be great if Soudal or Specialized pulled their sponsorship.

From what I can see even by his low standards people are shocked by this

TheBlaaMan · 31-07-2021 2:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117686288#Comment_117686288

Het Nieuwsblad is a paper owned by the new owners of Irish Independent ...........(Mediahuis)

rtmie · 31-07-2021 3:17pm

Does UCI have no equivalent of "bringing the game into disrepute" that they can action against lefevere?

Aside from the obvious nastiness towards Bennett ( and undermining some others in the team also) the general tone is so toxic and offensive it is a big negative for the sport in general.

Weepsie · 31-07-2021 3:20pm

People are talking about the sport and tuning in. UCI couldn't care less.

at1withmyself · 31-07-2021 6:14pm

I'm not sure why some are calling on the UCI as it's not for them to control individual people within teams. As much wrong as they do, this is not on them.

I would expect the sponsors to speak out though, specialised are one that I imagine don't want to be associated with this drama.

Hopefully Sam has the contract signed with Bora as dispite not riding the grand tours he still got a lot of wins with the team. It is a shame we'll not see him race again till 2022 by the looks of things.

31-07-2021 6:24pm

Hopefully he has a crack at the nationals and wins.

Randy Archer · 02-08-2021 1:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685732#Comment_117685732

Not a chance that happening . No chance . He won’t have the help at Bora and they seem to be recruiting a lot of GC men. Sam has no record in one day races (the big ones) he is a stage racer . He barely won that semi classic in Belgium and he was out vomiting at the next race . He’s not reliable in one days ..and those were only semi classics , which the monument contenders (bare Wout Van Aert and Asgreen saw as afterthoughts or warm ups for the bigger races ) l if he truly has a knee issue, I’d be worried. He won’t be riding until next February, unless he does the worlds (no way can he actually go and ride any race for quick step after the latest rant)

hope I’m wrong , but, “repeatedly” ? No chance . Absolutely none. One offs sure but not the one days and he has a lot to tend with at TDF. The sprinters will be back. The Colombian at UAE is back in form; the Dutch lad from Jumbo who crashed into Jacobsen of Quick step in Poland (last year) will also want to return to the TDF (may have to leave jumbo, with Wout getting the rights to stage hunt) . That’s more competition

Green jersey chances are done .might be okay for the Giro or Vuelta depending on who turns up. He won’t have the team and many of those guys coming in are very young and want to prove themselves in stages (which they have already tasted victory with their other teams)

The Irish tinted glasses shouldn’t ignore that .

Huge mistake in Sam falling out with Quick Step, he’s nearly 30 and he needs to win now . Quick Step saved his career and he was motoring fine for much of 2021 .

His advisors have let him down big time with the contradictory comments on his fitness status and not showing his face during the Tour of Belgium even just to talk to the boss and medical staff

You think Bora have the team discipline , solidarity , experience and lack of ego to help Sam in the mountains like Quick Step did ?

Sagan will be taking his lieutenants with him too and Bora are clearly looking more of a GC team in the next year or two, based on the guys they are bringing in.

Sam is said to be brining over two guys, and for some crazy reason Tim De clerq , of all people has been on the receiving end of PLF rants too just recently “Tim Declercq is a really intelligent guy, but he ‘choked’ when he has to ride for himself.” IF Tim was inclined to go to Bora with Sam.,. Then Sam has a chance . Oh it’s be lovely

Pascal Ackermann leaving Bora is a huge help (he can forget it at UAE as the Colombian sprinter is coming back into form and they only have so much room for sprinters)

but you just have to ask Pascal, Bora don’t hold their word, any promises are worthless . Sam saw that for himself when he wasn’t even selected for Giro 2019 despite proving himself at Giro 2017 and 2018 and I think Vuelta 2018

fryup · 02-08-2021 8:03am

did he go to the olympics?

happytramp · 02-08-2021 9:03am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117693765#Comment_117693765

Okay, let's keep it simple. You don't think Sam is capable of beating Jakobsen and Cavendish?... Because I'd put the farm on it that he will.

Also 'quickstep saved his career'? That's flat out absurd. He had more World Tour wins than any other rider the season before he moved to DQS. He was the most successful sprinter in the world when they signed him.

happytramp · 02-08-2021 9:04am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117694020#Comment_117694020

No. The course wasn't suited to sprinters like himself. Most of them gave it a miss.

at1withmyself · 02-08-2021 10:13am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117693765#Comment_117693765

The 'columbian' and 'dutch' riders have names. With all your rants you could at least acknowledge their names.

Sam won before he rode for quick step and will win again after he leaves them.

breezy1985 · 02-08-2021 2:36pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117693765#Comment_117693765

For the people here who only started watching cycling when Bennett won green I would like to point out that he did win races before signing for DQS including when he was at Bora.

Ya it's a blow to lose the train but he has been here before and as Ewan proves you don't need to ride for DQS to ride the train

breezy1985 · 02-08-2021 2:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117694020#Comment_117694020

No it was a climbers course so we had better riders for the course

Large bottle small glass · 02-08-2021 4:09pm

While Sam will no doubt win again there is a major doubt if he'll ever have a team at his disposal that he had last season at Tour and that Cavendish had this year.

It's hard to know what went on behind the scenes before the Tour but maybe there's a question mark on Sam's mentality that he couldn't commit to Tour in spite of not being "100% right".

He knew signing for QS that Lefevre was a registered cnut and I think Sam could have boxed much smarter.

This season will test Sam's mentality, he doesn't have an endless amount of seasons in front of him. To quote Shakespeare.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men.

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

On such a full sea are we now afloat,

And we must take the current when it serves,

Or lose our ventures."

breezy1985 · 02-08-2021 5:14pm

https://www.wielerflits.be/nieuws/stoelendans-op-de-transfermarkt-in-de-worldtour-dit-is-de-stand-van-zaken/

Rumours emerging that Dan Martin might rejoin DQS.

Randy Archer · 02-08-2021 9:07pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117694107#Comment_117694107

Jacobson ? on a regular basis (your words) ? Absolutely not ! only an idiot would think otherwise . Sam doesn’t have the team to fight off Quickstep

cavendish ? No guarantee where he will be come June 2022 . it’s questionable he would have won the green jersey if the inform sprinters were present and correct ,and if Sam attended, Cav wouldn’t have been got onto the team

One thing is absolutely certain, Sam doesn’t have the mentality that Cav has and wouldn’t have over come the last year years that Cav went through . Sam has had issues since his days at An Post (on Que people who don’t know their arse from their elbow with green tinge glasses)

Sam has a hell of a lot more to contend with than just Quick Step sprinter and he doesn’t have the team

Yes , Quick Step saved his career ! Absolutely nothing absurd about it to suggest otherwise simply exposes your lack of knowledge of the sport .

he’d have been slumming it at Tour of Turkey 2020 , barely winning the sprint jersey and there’d have definitely been no TDF 2020 appearance , with or without Sagan, if he was with Bora. Bora backed German passports rather than a proven performer in Sam . It worked well enough in 2019 and Pascal got the better of Sam at Vuelta 2020 ,albeit, Sam was knackered (still was in contention for every sprint though)

Sam Certainly wouldn’t have been sent as main man at the Giro either as Sagan had a deal with those organisers to attend .

No other team was willing to come in and buy out his contract in 2019 , only Quick Step . He wouldn’t have had the 2020 that he had otherwise . It’s not like He gave Bora any reason to question his form throughout 2017-2019

It’s also telling that no other team bar Bora came to the table to offer Sam a way out of Quick Step .

The Tour is the priority for sprinters like him, not Tour of Turkey . He ain’t a one day racer so he’s of little use thereafter unless he’s on the grand tour teams .

He got passed over, for no good reason, by Bora for the Giro 2019 and he wasn’t given a spot to even be plan B or lead out for Sagan at TDF . Despite stage wins at two consecutive Giros and Vueltas . Add insult to injury the decision to drop Sam from the Giro 2019 team proved to be the correct call as their guy won the points jersey . Humiliation .

Despite Sam’s poor previous form at TDF, he became Quick Steps main sprinter in his first season . Quick Step sent him to all the correct races for him to prepare, including Paris Nice where he spthought he was at Stemple Stadium in one stage

”won more world tour wins than anyone before the season he joined DQS”

laughably weak argument . Greipel has more career wins than Cav , including more wins on the UCI World Tour / Pro Tour (as it was previously called)….. yet,, what has Greipel really won outside a decent 22 Grand Tour wins in the 3 GT and only one single points jersey win ? - heavily boasted by wins in Australia in January lol

there’s a lot of races that are of questionable quality on the world tour that rather be back on the European tour programme eg Turkey and Brick Bank post TDF

Sams world tour wins are Inflated by irrelevant weak races like the Brinck Bank (3) and Tour of Turkey (2) ! And Nationals , as you know ain’t world tour

still only 23rd in the UCI ranking at the end of 2019 and ZERO places in semi classics or Monuments ! Great Vuelta though and rode fine at Dauphine and Paris Nice - making exclusion from both and either of the 2019 Giro and Vuelta MORONIC

I’d take Roglics’s 8 stage and one day wins of the World Tour, and his GC wins, along with his two European Tour one day semi classics over what Sam did in 2019

Likewise , Alaphillip’s 8 stages /one days wins on the world tour (which included a monument ,and two major semi classic , days in yellow at TDF and two stages ) and his 3 UCI America Tour wins ..,all day long

That 12 World Tour wins looks pretty shallow when you take away tour of Turkey and Brink Back (just after TDF and before Vuelta) with zero appearances and major semi classics or monuments and no appearance at TDF because your team doesn’t rate ya , despite the form proving otherwise and despite the main man not delivering in the Spring (including failure to get points jersey at Tour of California which he had dominated for years)

Quality over quantity everyday

breezy1985 · 02-08-2021 9:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117696720#Comment_117696720

Won Giro and Vuelta stages with Bora along with Paris-Nice and Dauphine stages. Also DQS don't win every sprint and he had offers from Confidis, Ineos and I think maybe Trek

Can't tell if you don't have a clue or are just an edgelord but you are wrong in what you say regardless

Randy Archer · 02-08-2021 9:24pm

“He was the most successful sprinter in the world when they signed him.”

not in terms of the quality of races he attended / Bora forced him to attend !

ewan , Dylan Groenwegen and Viviani were ranked higher than him , all of whom won TDF stages

ewan won 3 stages of TDF , 2 stages of Giro , like Sam a stage at UAE , rode in Milan San Remo

Groenwegen won more races than anyone in the peloton in 2019 albeit, many coming from the European Tour . But it did include 2 wins at Paris Nice , a semi classic in Belgium , 2 stages of TDF

Due respect , that **** on tour of Turkey and brick bank

Randy Archer · 02-08-2021 9:30pm

“For the people here who only started watching cycling when Bennett won green I would like to point out that he did win races before signing for DQS including when he was at Bora.

Ya it's a blow to lose the train but he has been here before and as Ewan proves you don't need to ride for DQS to ride the train”

Sam Bennet is not Caleb Ewan ! You are going to struggle to find many stages where Sam bet Caleb without a train
ABSOLUTELY NO ONE SAID OR IMPLIED that Bennett didn’t win world tour stages including grand tour stages
For those new to the sport, don’t be so naive as Breezy to think that wins at Tour of Turkey and Brinck Bank actually mean anything when stat stuffing the world tour wins in a for a season guff comes up . TDF matters ! A huge reason why Bora stopped bring Sam to the TDF ,even to help Sagan, was because Sam couldn’t hack it, he’s on record for admitting it

Randy Archer · 02-08-2021 9:40pm

Dan going back to Quick Step, please make it so

another Irish rider disgracefully treated by his trade team . First UAE (prep for TDF 2019 was a disgrace) and now ISN .

It’s one thing to put a clearly out of sort Chris Froome as the public leader of TDF (could always bank on him not being a serious contender , he had a good period in 2020 and two grand tours with Ineos to show what he’s up to) but then deny Dan a proper has at Vuelta 2021 (his form in Spain is vastly better) by packing him off to the Giro for his third grand tour in less than 10 months with next to no support again … and then tell the world that Michael **** Woods, who has no form at TDF was going to be the leader ,despite less than stellar Grand Tour or seven day stage leader credentials (he was highly tried at EF / Cannondale) all because Woods is good pals with the owner

can not see why and how anyone worth their salt could continue with ISN after the insult and after producing two stage wins and two top 10s at 2 grand tours - basically saving ISN season - and achieved that with ZERO help from the team

Dan should focus more on the hilly Ardennes races and Lombardy with emphasis on the Vuelta

02-08-2021 9:49pm

Ben Hermans in another ISN man I don't think they've got the race program right for this year.

03-08-2021 10:10am

Confirmation of the move back to Bora, Archbold goes with him and Ryan Mullen moves over from Trek.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sam-bennett-rejoins-bora-hansroghe-after-deceuninck-quickstep-split/

CrowdedHouse · 03-08-2021 10:14am

And

https://www.bora-hansgrohe.com/en/news/argonnews202108bennett/argonnews202108bennett/564054185

breezy1985 · 03-08-2021 10:16am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117696857#Comment_117696857

Stop your Tour of Turkey crap. He won stages of the Giro and Vuelta with Bora and they definitely matter to actual cycling fans

What do you mean by the Bora stopped bringing him to the TdF thing.

sham58107 · 03-08-2021 10:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117685821#Comment_117685821

I have being watching and involved in cycling since way before Sam appeared, even before Roche won his triple !! so just because people don't agree with you on here, do not blame late comers, as somebody said way to many green specs on here.

The football analogy was a point , no matter what sport team or individual , if you want to complete at top rank there is no way you can sit home for 9 months and still have the desire, and skill to get back to top class sprinting in the top races, not just the lesser ones, I hope it works for Sam but to be honest , do you not think he was better to stay and win another green jersey this year and have a lot more bargaining power , he could probably have won this year, also remember the TDF last year was not nearly as hot as July in France as TGH winning Giro proved, time of year and a little shorter suited some riders .

breezy1985 · 03-08-2021 10:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117698443#Comment_117698443

I think it would have been way better if he wasn't injured and rode the TdF this year yes.

I would also love if DQS didn't have Ala and Remco to worry about and could have made him a better offer but these are all what ifs.

As for the nine months off it's a balls but Dumoulin, Cavendish and Dennis have all managed it. Jakobsen and Dylan G. have had long spells out recently too it happens

And I wouldn't accuse everyone I disagree with of being "late comers" or TdF only fans just the ones talking pure rubbish and trying to pretend Giro and Vuelta stage wins don't count

Macy0161 · 03-08-2021 11:25am

I'm following the sport since the 80's. And I still think that's shíte talk on Sam tbh. DQS fought to sign him, and didn't save his career. DQS have the best lead out, but he beat that lead out several times in the Giro with Bora. Lefevere's carry on shows that he's worried about Sam next year - trying to undermine him. If he was as crap as suggested, he wouldn't have started so early, and so hard.

Leaving aside the contract issue - where Bora were that desperate to get rid of a third rate sprinter, they were fighting to keep him - he was squeezed out by sponsorship considerations really. He's spent most of his professional career at various incarnations of the team. While it ended sour with the non-selection and the contract, DQS have put that in the ha'penny place with the carry on this year.

fwiw, I think he'll have decent support at Bora. None of the GC contenders are going to win a Grand Tour, Sam will still be their best chance of results. Even Mullen going there is a sign of that - Pedersen picked him in his dream team on a podcast earlier in the year, and Stuyven specifically picked him out after San Remo. Going there with no support is also BS.

Sam Bennett - no same day spoilers

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