Sam Bennett’s recent return to top form has led to consecutive stage wins in the Four Days of Dunkirk in France, with the rider from Carrick-on-Suir securing the third stage victory following another group sprint finish in Bouchain. This promising turn of events arrived after Bennett broke his long spell without a group sprint win by achieving victory in the race’s second stage on Wednesday. This triumph seemingly boosted his confidence, which played out in another win for his teammates at Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale and extended his overall race dominance.
Bennett staved off a last-minute surge from Milan Fretin of team Cofidis, the champion of the first stage, and is currently eight seconds ahead of Fretin in the general rating. “The team was exceptional,” commented Bennett on the decisive lead-out by his team. He pointed out that the nature of sprinting is highly unpredictable and the team had to take a different approach on the day. He lauded his team’s experience and ability to make prompt decisions when things did not go as intended, adding that they are focused on maintaining this strategy with the hopes of achieving more successful outcomes.
Bennett’s victory the day before was a triumph for his new team, Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale, which he joined at the start of the season. The 33-year-old athlete had previously won two sprint stages of the Tour of Romania back in July of 2023, an achievement representing his first win in quite some time.
The largely level 165 km stage stretched from Saint-Laurent-Blangy to Bouchain, marking his second stage triumph in Dunkirk and raising his professional career total victories to 64. Bennett has previously won 10 Grand Tour stages, including two at the 2020 Tour de France where he bagged the green jersey for the points classification after triumphing in the final stage into Paris on the Champs-Élysées. It is anticipated that this recent victory may increase his possibility of selection for this year’s race.