Sam Bennett may have abandoned his first stage race of year, but his team has said there is no drama (Photo Luis Angel Gomez-Cor Vos)
Sam Bennett’s first stage race of the season, following his return to racing after his cardiac issue, ended today when he abandoned Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (2.UWT). The Irishman exited the race on the very hilly stage 5, and with two stages to come.
The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider said in recent days he was using this week to build his condition, and make himself useful, after a much longer recovery process than he was first led to believe. However, he also conceded the racing in the first days of the race were “quite hard”.
In response to queries from stickybottle, his team downplayed his withdrawal today, with no mention of any injury or illness. Rather, the team said Bennett made what contribution he could and then decided to abandon, amid a controlled return to racing.
“This race was important to get some race conditions back into his legs on his way to returning to the top level,” the team said of Bennett, who had started only two races, both one-days, before the seven-stage Catalunya, a challenging event.
“Today’s stage was very demanding – 4,500 metres of elevation – so he did what he could before stopping, avoiding pushing too hard,” the team added, but stressing the Irishman’s condition appeared “perfectly fine”.
Bennett is returning to racing following a cardiac issue, after his heart rate shot up on a trip to London last November. He underwent a cardiac ablation procedure days later.
However, though he believed his recovery, before returning to training, would be about two weeks, it had taken two months. Bennett was only returned to full training from mid January.
As a result, he delayed the start of his season, kicking off the campaign at Danilith Nokere Koerse (1.Pro) on Wednesday of last week.
That late start to his season, coupled with a two-month hole in quality training during winter, mean his comeback was always going to be gradual.