Having last competed in the Gent-Wevelgem semi-Classic on March 26th, Sam Bennett will return to action on May 1st when he defends his title in the Eschborn-Frankfurt race in Germany.
Bennett’s Bora-hansgrohe team took the decision to rest him after a cold picked up in Paris-Nice affected his form in subsequent races. The squad has said it is confident he is still on track for a strong Tour de France, his main season goal.
Meanwhile, a superb recent run of international results for Irish cycling has been followed by strong performances from two Irish junior riders, with Seth Dunwoody and Patrick Casey finishing first and second overall in the 2.1-ranked Penn Ar Bed-Pays d’Iroise stage race in France on Sunday.
Dunwoody (Cannibal-Victorious U19 Development Team) got things off to a superb start on Saturday when he won the opening stage to Plouoguer, two seconds clear of a chasing group containing sixth-placed Casey (Anexo Group Race Team).
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He slipped two places to third overall on Sunday morning when he finished back in 11th in the 7.5 kilometre Plougonvelin time-trial, 20 seconds behind the winner, his Ukrainian team-mate Daniil Yakovlev.
Casey was a fine fifth and jumped up four places to second overall. Cal Tutty (Munster Cycling Academy) was 13th in the race against the clock and went from 89th to 16th overall.
Dunwoody then roared back into the race lead, winning the 2.1-ranked race overall with a brilliant solo win on Sunday afternoon. He completed the 118.8-kilometre race to Plouzané one minute 18 seconds ahead of runner-up Casey, who led in a 12-man chase group.
That left them first and second overall in the general classification, with Tutty 24th. Dunwoody and Casey were also first and second in the best young rider ranking.
Dunwoody finished a fine 11th in the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in February and was the best young rider in the Guido Reybrouck Classic in March.
