Sam Bennett is hoping a past mentor will reignite a career that has been on a low flame in recent seasons. Winner of the green jersey plus two stages in the 2020 Tour de France, the sprinter has had a more modest showing of late.
But reuniting with his former team manager Kurt Bogaerts will, he feels, get him back to major victories.
“It’s just how invested he is,” Bennett said, explaining the synergies of working with the Belgian.
“When he believes, you see the belief in him. It’s motivating. You want it yourself, of course, but then you also want to do it for how much he puts into it.”
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The two worked together back in the days of the An Post Sean Kelly team, the high level outfit Bennett competed with as an amateur.
He had lingering knee issues at the time, the result of being hit by a car while out training in December 2010, and almost walked away from the sport in the summer of 2013 due to demoralisation.
But Bogaerts and Kelly worked closely with Bennett, bolstering his motivation and helping him knuckle down again. He won a stage of the Tour of Britain that autumn, beating stars such as Bradley Wiggins, Nairo Quintana and others, and secured his first pro contract.
He went on to dominate the world of sprinting in 2020 and early 2021 before a knee injury derailed his momentum. Two seasons with the Decathlon AG2R la Mondiale team brought victories but not at the same level as before, making things difficult to find a team this autumn despite offers earlier in the year.
Bennett admitted that he started to panic and feared his career was over, but he got a lifeline in recent weeks when Bogaerts and the Q36.5 Pro Cycling team reached out.
He sounds re-energised after an agreement was struck and believes Bogaerts could be the key to turning things around.
[ Sam Bennett joins up with Eddie Dunbar at Q36.5 Pro Cycling for 2026Opens in new window ]
“He has a great mind and a great way of thinking about it, and breaking it down and making it more simple,” he said. “And then Kurt is great if he doesn’t have the answers, in finding the person that does, putting the team together to get all the information and getting the most out of the riders.
“I went to the team training camp, and you can see how he’s also grown from the An Post days. He’s a different guy since then, and a different manager. It’s quite cool to see, and also for the two of us to come back together. The fact that we’re both at much higher points in the sport with a lot of success is quite cool as well.
“I’m excited to see what we can do and how we’ll do, where we can take it next year.”
Now aged 35, Bennett is in the final phase of his career but says he would like to race for several more seasons. His last WorldTour victories were during the 2021 Vuelta a España, when he won two stages before being forced out with Covid.
He hasn’t reached the same level again but Bogaerts has faith that he can turn things around.
“He wins smaller races still, but I think he’s capable of more,” Bogaerts said he. “For me he still shows a lot of hunger and doesn’t want to leave the sport in this way. He wants to leave the sport on a high and it’s up to us and himself to make that happen.”
Q36.5 Pro Cycling is growing year-on-year and while it doesn’t have the resources of Decathlon, Bennett feels the right conditions are there for him to shine. He will be competing alongside Tom Pidcock, who won the Olympic mountain bike XC title in 2024 but who has redirected his focus on to a major road career.
The British rider was third in the recent Vuelta a España, proving he has what it takes to mix with the best.
Irish climber Eddie Dunbar is, like Bennett, joining the team. Bennett believes they will all gel well together.
His racing programme for next season will take time to emerge, but if the team can secure an invite to the Tour de France he would leap at the chance to go back.
“I want to win bike races. I want to get my ten plus wins a year, and to win at the WorldTour level. The thing that keeps me going is that I get glimpses that it’s still in there.
“I wouldn’t waste anyone’s time if I thought I’d never get there again. I wouldn’t do that to people. I think it will click. I think it will happen.”
