Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) makes his return to action today at the GP du canton d’Argovie (1.HC) in Switzerland after a break from racing following his Giro d’Italia debut.
The Irish sprinter had four podium finishes at the Giro but just missed out on his first Grand Tour stage victory. He finished third on the stages to Messina, Alberobello and Reggio Emilia and on Stage 13 to Tortona, it looked like he might finally nab the win only to be passed in the closing metres by Fernando Gaviria (Quick Step Floors).
Joining Bennett on the Bora-hansgrohe team is Lukas Postlberger who impressed at the Giro by winning the opening stage at Olbia after a late break. Erik Baska, Jose Mendes, Gregor Muhlberger and Matteo Pelucchi make up the rest of the team.
The riders will face ten laps of an 18-kilometre circuit in Leuggern in northern Switzerland and the race often comes down to a sprint with Giacomo Nizzolo winning a bunch gallop last year to take victory and Alexander Kristoff winning in 2015.
If today’s race does finish in a sprint, others who can be expected to be to the fore are John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) and Sacha Modolo (UAE Team Emirates). Two-time winner Michael Albasini (Orica-Scott) is also due to start today.
Following on from the GP du canton d’Argovie, Bennett will next line up at the Rund um Köln (1.1) on Sunday where he took the win in 2014 and next week starts the four-day Tour de Slovénie (2.1).
