Currently sitting last in the Tour de France, Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 says that the Tour de France has been very hard and the 24 year old Irishman thought his debut Grand Tour was over several times in the second week.

‘It’s been as tough as I expected,” he said to Cycling Weekly. “There’s been a couple of stages where I thought I was finished and going home.

 “A lot of the time you think there might be an easier day, but there’s not been a stage like that yet. It’s been like the World Championships every day.”

“But I’ve made all the time cuts so far; I’ve pushed myself, and obviously that means it’s harder to recover each night.”

One thought that is dragging the talented fastman through the race is that he has already beaten the best in the last stage of the Tour of Qatar this year and he knows that finishing the Tour will make him even stronger.

“I’m just thinking that I’ll get stronger in future by riding this race,” the 24-year-old added.

“Hopefully I’ll become a better rider for it; if it gives me different strengths by finishing it I’ll be happy.”