Sam Bennett (BORA-hansgrohe) is set to move to Deceuninck – Quick-Step, replacing Elia Viviani as their main sprinter, according to a report in today’s L’Équipe.
According to the report, the 28 year-old Irishman was very close to an agreement with Movistar after his stage victory at Riom at the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this year but will move to a team more accustomed to working for a sprinter like Quick-Step who have had on their books in recent years Mark Cavendish, Alessandro Petacchi, Marcel Kittel and Fernando Gaviria.
30 year-old Viviani meanwhile looks set to replace Nacer Bouhanni at Cofidis next season who has had a difficult relationship with the team. He should be joined by lead-out man Fabio Sabatini with Maximiliano Richeze linking up with Colombian Fernando Gaviria at UAE Emirates from 2020.
Bennett has enjoyed a very successful 2019 season, taking multiple WorldTour wins with stage victories at the UAE Tour, Paris-Nice, Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey and Critérium du Dauphiné. More recently, he won the Irish National Road Race Championships.
Despite his numerous wins this season and his consistency over the past number of years where he took multiple wins each season, including three stage wins at the 2018 Giro d’Italia, Bennett was not included in BORA-hansgrohe’s selection for either the Giro d’Italia or Tour de France this year, as the team went with Pascal Ackermann and Peter Sagan respectively instead for the two Grand Tours.
