Sam Bennett: I definitely have another good four years in me 🇮🇪

Analysing the Irish rider's options on the transfer market

Bennett is focusing on the Giro d’Italia rather than transfer speculation. Photo courtesy of SWpix.

Hi Subscribers,

We’re starting the day with a story and short interview with Sam Bennett in which the Irish rider talks about his desire to keep racing beyond 2025, his Giro d’Italia so far, and transfer analysis on what happens next, given that Olav Kooij is very likely heading to Bennett’s current team, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.

The audio interview with Bennett is in the WhatsApp group for Founding Members, which you can join by upgrading your account in your settings.

Don’t forget, you can follow my Giro coverage on my Instagram account, and to coincide with the race, I’ve set up a ✨ special 20% sale ✨ on annual subscriptions. Just click on the link below to sign up. For roughly £1 a week, you get all the stories on my Substack, including all the transfer exclusives.

I’ll be back later with a Steven Kruijswijk story, before the post-stage race analysis.

And an audio interview with Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the GC battle at the Giro d’Italia is about to land in the Founding Member WhatsApp group, too.

Daniel 🫶

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Ahead of stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia, we caught up with Sam Bennett. The Irish rider is enjoying a resurgent season with four wins already, and a couple of placings here in Italy. He hasn’t quite had the rub of the green during the hectic sprints during the last week, but the 34-year-old believes that his form is at the level required and that he has another four years left in his career.

The former Tour de France green jersey is also out of contract at the end of this season, and it’s unclear where his future lies. With Olav Kooij seemingly on his way to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale for 2026, along with a fresh lead-out train, it’s conceivable that Bennett will move on, unless the French squad are preparing for two sprint programmes.

At the start of stage 6, Bennett and his accompanying press officer were keen to focus on the here and now rather than the transfer speculation in the media, which is fair enough, and their prerogative within the confines of the media zone at the race - although Bennett did talk about his desire to keep racing for several more years and that his sprint is continuing to improve.

Read more: Rider Cycling Transfers 2025/2026

“It’s been alright. There haven’t been days when it’s been particularly draining. There have just been days where it’s just been too hard to get there, just outside the capacities. So everything is still fine. I’m just looking for a few more sprints,” he said.

“The speed is good. I’ve been happy with the speed. I just have to get there and then get the gap to open. The lead-out has been grand. With the first sprint in a Grand Tour, it’s always quite hectic. The course the other day, there was no rhythm to it, no flow. It was quite chaotic, and it was hard to stick together. After we watched it, we saw where we could improve and what we did right. We just have to fix a few small details, and then we could be good because I think on paper we have the strongest lead-out here, and man-on-man, we don’t have to be afraid of anybody in this race.”