Sam Bennett is disappointed to not have made NetApp Endura’s Tour de France team but he accepts the decision.

 “I knew I wouldn’t be doing the Tour, but I thought that maybe if I got a few more results it would maybe help change it,” he told CyclingTips Thursday.

“But they picked what they think is the best possible team for the race, in terms of getting a stage win and a top ten overall. I think they did a good job with the selection. They are going in supporting Leo König. He is obviously the best rider on the team and they are going to support him. I wish them all the luck.”

“I don’t feel that my form was good in the first half of the season, but I feel it might be starting to come now,” he said. “I don’t know about a stage win but I definitely think I could have snuck a podium.”

Bennett has been one of the revelations of the season so far, winning the Clasica de Almeria in March, the Rund um Köln in April then the fifth stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt on June 1. And while he was left off the NetApp Endura team for the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Tour of Slovenia, he won the professional kermesse in Lede, Belgium, on Sunday. As if this wasn’t impressive enough, he has won all of these events in his debut year as a pro.

With his four wins he is currently the rider with the most victories on the NetApp team, but he understands why he has not been selected.

“Firstly, our leader for the GC Leo Koenig showed a great form recently. That made us confident to build our team at the Tour de France around him and to focus mainly on the GC,” NetApp Endura manager Ralph Denk told CyclingTips.

“Secondly, we believe that a participation in this year’s Tour de France would come too early for Sam. Despite him being quite grown- up for his age, he is still young. He has been racing his first six months as a professional cyclist only. Obviously, I am more than satisfied with him being part of our team. But within the team management we have a responsibility for our riders that gives no space for any opportunistic short-term thinking.”

“Our approach with Sam is much more long-term orientated. We want to build him up carefully and step-by- step. Compared to his last season, Sam raced a very intense program already and he did it very successfully.”

“The team are trying to look after me as best as they can. They are looking towards the future and they think it is too much for me right now,” Bennett said. “They want to develop me and for me to get stronger. So I have to respect their opinion also.

“Saying that, I feel super fresh at the minute. I want to race, but I don’t have a race for a while now. We will see how it goes.

Hopefully it will benefit me towards the end of the season. The team are doing what they think is best and I respect their opinion.”

Bennett next rides the Irish Road Race before taking a long break before resuming with the RideLondon Classic on August 10.

“With four weeks without racing, you are going to miss the speed,” he said. “It will be a shock to the system, so it would be good to get a few kermesses in before I race again with the team so I am sharp and ready.”

“I am definitely motivated for the second part of the season,” he said. “I want to have a better half to the season than the first half, that’s for sure.”