Sam Bennett has had a dream neo-pro year, taking three races for NetApp-Endura this year, resulting in him being handed a two-year contract extension before his neo-pro deal was even up. He sat down with Ciclismo Internacional to discuss his first year in the pro ranks.

While the young Irishman was mostly pleased with his 2014, he did admit that there were some rookie mistakes that he made.

“I was happy. I wanted to maintain consistency in races and results and that’s what I got. I was disappointed with the 2nd half of the season because my immature side came out. I wanted to gain more form and I got sick a couple of times, which didn’t help. I would have liked it to have gone a bit better. It was a great learning curve this year, I really enjoyed it,” he said.

He also had to deal with the pressure of leading a team in big races against big riders, something he thinks he handled well this year, including podiuming a stage in the Tour of Oman against the likes of Bouhanni, Sagan and Greipel.

“When I started it was a bit strange going up against Kittel, Greipel and co with a full team supporting me. I didn’t want to let them down, I felt a lot of pressure. At the beginning, to be given the opportunity to sprint against them, I was pinching myself a bit, but you get you used to it and you just want to compete and get good results.”

Bennett took his season’s first win at the 1.1 ranked Clasica de Almeria, a race that Movistar attempted to make as hard as possible.

“I was really, really happy. Movistar knew me from Qatar and Oman, they were trying to make the pace really hard and uncomfortable throughout the race. Any time we approached a climb, they were bringing the pace up massively. They tried to split it in the crosswinds and they were trying to jump individually, at the end. The team did a great job supporting me, all the guys did a great job. I went early, at 200m, and the long way round. I then hit a block headwind and I didn’t think I was going to make it. My legs started to buckle but I wanted to win after the lads doing such a great job. To get the win, I was absolutely delighted.”

After fifth in the Scheldeprijs, Bennett continued his Classics campaign with the toughest Classic of them all: Paris-Roubaix.

 “Roubaix was a very hard race. I think, being a sprinter really helped me a lot when we were fighting for position going into each cobbled section. For the first 100km I was in the right position, then I crashed before the Arenberg. The pace went up through the roof and I couldn’t get back on. I spent all day out the back. I found it more uncomfortable on the bike then hard. I could go at my own pace but the surface is unbelievably rough, it looks so smooth on TV compared to what it actually is.”

Later that month, Bennett took a big win in the Rund um Koln, which took place in Germany, where his NetApp-Endura team is registered.

“I did enjoy it a bit more because it was a very hard race and the weather conditions made it even harder. I analysed the finish on the final laps and I made a plan. I didn’t want to go early at 200m, so everything fell into place and I wanted to leave the sprint as late as possible, to keep my cool and not panic. I was delighted I was able to do that as a lot of guys panic and go too early, so I had a plan and I pulled it off perfectly. I nearly lost it, but it was great and the team did a great job helping me.”

Sam remained hot in Germany, taking a stage in the 2.HC ranked Bayern Rundfahrt but he got sick and had to pull out on the final day of racing. In fact, illness was an unwanted guest for Bennett, restricting him to only 52 race days, something that frustrated the young man.

“It was very frustrating, I wanted to have a bit more. I wanted to build on the first half of the season and come back with more wins but looking back, with hindsight, you can’t always get it right!”

Bennett admitted to Ciclismo Internacional that he doesn’t actually work much on his sprint. However, he is looking to build on it.

“I don’t really do a lot of sprint training as such. We do a bit in the training camps to get the train right, but I try to focus on getting to the finish line as fresh as possible. I do a little bit, in the off-season, it’s something I’d like to improve on this coming season.”

Bennett’s team, who will become Team Bora-Argon 18 in 2015, gave him a huge confidence boost when they resigned him for two extra years.

“It builds confidence that the team has confidence in me. They believe I can win races and they want to support me, it’s a big confidence booster.”

Bennett, boosted by the arrival of ex-An Post leadout man Shane Archbold at the team for 2015, has a simple objective for 2015: win more races. 

“I’d like to get more wins than 2014. A goal for me is the Tour de France and put out a good performance. I’ll take every opportunity I can and try to help the team to as many wins as possible.”