It’s probably a reflection of how well Sam Bennett is doing at the moment that Belgium are staking a claim on the young Irish rider.
The headline ‘Halve Belg Sam Bennett mag tweede keer juichen in Beieren’ appeared in various Flemish newspapers this week which roughly translates as ‘Half-Belgian Sam Bennett cheers a second time in Bavaria.”
This week, Bennett showed that he is back on form when he took two stage wins in Bayern Rundfahrt, outsprinting the likes of Nacer Bouhanni and John Degenkolb. This followed on from an enforced kay-off due ti injuries sustained in a bad crash earlier this yea
Bennett was born in Wervik, in West Flanders, where his father Michael played professional soccer for local club Eendracht Wervik. However, the family returned to Ireland when Sam was just four, and he grew up in Carrick-on-Suir. He has also represented Ireland since a young age.
[…] follows on from a claim by the Belgian press last year on the rider as being half-Belgian following his wins in Bayern […]