Sam Bennett - no same day spoilers

Dropped ?

6 spots in any race sounds like a lot for Ireland. It's not the first time but I don't think it's normal either

Points are earned based on results in races. Gilbert still has points from Paris-Roubaix in 2019 as it was cancelled in 2020 and moved to later this year. These points will only be dropped from his score once the 2021 race is run.

The latest outburst from Patrick...

New episode in the raging feud between Patrick Lefevere and Sam Bennett. For Deceuninck - Quick-Step, the Irish sprinter has not raced since May, but on Sunday he will start for Ireland at the European Championships. A declaration of war for Patrick Lefevere: "All the tricks of the trade are apparently good."

The team manager of Deceuninck - Quick-Step thinks it's a joke, Bennett riding the European Championships. For him, the selection is therefore more a legal move than a sporting choice. "Trick of the trade", he says.

With Bennett, there is more than a hair in the butter since the Tour de France. The rider had to forfeit because of knee injury, but his unclear communication about it annoyed the team. "Behind our back he went to Froome's physiotherapist," Lefevere said. "Who said, 'train' but, against the advice of our doctor Yvan Vanmol. Yvan has worked for our team for 27 years and has seen the same injury in Boonen and Alaphilippe. But his diagnosis apparently doesn't count."

Because the Irish sprinter has not raced for Deceuninck - Quick-Step since the Tour of the Algarve in May, the team wants to halve his salary from September. The UCI rules allow this from an inactivity of three months. Bennett and his entourage were informed of this in writing last week.

"Those who know me know that I never do that," Lefevere said. "Jakobsen and dozens of other riders I have continued to be paid in full, despite long injuries. But here the rider is acting in bad faith: he is no longer training. He won't have surgery. And he's crying on the phone to our doctor Philip Jansen."

By participating in the European Championship - within the Irish selection and separate from Deceuninck - Quick-Step Bennett wants to prove that he is race fit. And that it is therefore a choice of the team not to pick him for races. "I hear from his manager Andrew McQuaid that he will definitely finish the European Championship. I'm not so sure about that yet. We have already proposed to do an effort test with us at the Bakala Academy, but he won't accept it. For me it's simple: first prove you're fit before you take the place of a teammate."

Lefevere believes manager McQuaid has used his influence to force a selection for the European Championship. "How many riders does Ireland have? Three or four. Everybody knows everybody in that world. McQuaid tells me he is doing everything he can to defend the interests of his riders, and I grant him that. But I suppose in the future he wants to bring riders to my team as well."

Lefevere is not impressed by Bennett's departure. He is arming himself for a legal challenge by documenting where the rider has been at fault in recent months. That includes failing to upload training files, but also failing to comply with the team's dress code. "What he is doing now is playing with my balls in public," Lefevere concludes. "He has also already sent a letter to the UCI to complain that I have targeted him in the media. It won't work. I'm going to get back at him until the steam comes out of his ears."

This is bad

And no matter that Lefevre is in the wrong it is bad for Sam

He needs to race and not have the mental pressure of this ..If I were him I'd go to Lefevre and reach a compromise and race and get paid...even if he has to swallow all his pride and anger. This is his livelihood

He can **** Lefevre out of it next year or the year after

I would like to hear more from Sam Bennett's side of this.

I'd like to know why he didn't ride the tour...was it because he banged his knee? I thought he was going for an operation for that and would be out till next season.

Good chance I haven't kept up to date on this story so would like a bit more info about what's going on.

If I was Cav I'd be asking for more money just for having to put up with aul Pat.

All jokes aside, surely Cav beating Merck's record under your team is worth a significant sum marketing wise, I know Fabio's chomping at the bit to take over, but your negotiation tactics of "you're not as good as you think and we're not going to give you a chance to break the record you almost broke this year unexpectedly when you filled in at last minute" aren't exactly conducive

The problem isn't really Lefevere's thinking on Cav - whom, whilst I concur could only beat those there, got very lucky this year in terms of who he was up against - but why do so in public? Even the racing contract is one thing, but the digs about a future role are completely unnecessary.

This just smells of what lefevere would do.

https://twitter.com/rianjkeogh/status/1437799788255252488?s=20

I think the race days will set him up for Bora perfectly, however, he could just as easily pull out of races early. I can't remember which autobiography where the rider spoke of him and a team mate parking their car at a point early in the race to pack in and get home!