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Content Zone
Thu 15-Oct-2009 22:51
More from this writer..
Emmet Moloney
Sam Bennett - a new sporting hero
Emmet Moloney writes for the
'The Irish Farmers Journal'
and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.
‘I am in no hurry to turn professional. Some fellas go pro too quickly and burn out as a result’... The sport of cycling has long been popular on this island thanks to the likes of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche and we could have a new hero in the form of Sam Bennett, writes Emmet Moloney...
Cycling was a huge sport in this country back in the 1980s. Mainly fed on the success of Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche, the Tour De France became compulsive viewing for three weeks every summer. Then in 1987 the remarkable victory of Roche saw Charlie Haughey hot-tailing it to the Champs-Élysées to share in the triumph.
With Roche’s win and Kelly’s rising to number one in the world, our roads were jammed with cycling enthusiasts and paint. We can all remember the famous tours that went through our towns in the late ’80s, The Nissan Classic saw Kelly, Roche and Spratt whitewashed onto roads on the approach to towns. The Classic was big news and drew huge crowds.
That all seems like a long time ago now. Stephen Roche is long retired and Sean Kelly can be heard commentating in excellent French and decent English on Eurosport when the tour rolls around. But we don’t have any real contenders these days. Our interest in Le Tour these last few years has been Lance Armstrong or Sean Kelly’s wit. But that may be about to change.
Donegal native Philip Deignan, ranked 71st in the world, is 26 years of age and this summer won a stage in the Tour of Spain, becoming the first Irish man to win a stage in a main tour since Stephen Roche back in 1992. Of course Roche’s son Nicolas is another young cyclist making headlines. Aged 25, he too is a full-time professional cyclist, ranked 143rd in the world, and finished in fifth place in the points classification in this year’s Tour de France. Both should compete well in France next summer, as should Roche’s cousin Daniel Martin, who leads the way for the Irish in the world rankings in 40th place.
An up and coming shining light for Irish cycling could be Sam Bennett. Aged just 18 (he turns 19 this Friday, 16 October), the Carrick Wheelers teenager caught the eye of many experts when he won a stage of the Rás last summer. In doing so, Bennett became the youngest ever cyclist to win a stage.
Sam was born in Belgium to Irish parents. Sport is in his blood. His dad, Michael, played soccer for Ireland and despite wanting his son to take up the game, Sam took to the roads instead.
“My dad did a lot of cycling when I was younger as he had knee injuries and this was his way of keeping fit. That’s where my love for cycling actually came from – I would cycle with him,” recalls Sam, who never actually kicked a football in anger.
By the age of nine he was begging Paul Lonergan of the Carrick Wheelers to let him join the older boys climbing hills. According to Paul, secretary of the cycling club, his potential was obvious immediately.
“Although he was supposed to be 10 when he started, he was just nine. But it didn’t make any difference, he was beating all the older lads from the first day. We knew he was special,” says Paul.
Right now, Sam is attending UCD, studying Sports Science. Usually a three-year course, Sam is doing it in stages, spending September to December in college and the rest of the time on his bike. This allows him to concentrate on cycling when he needs to and gives him a little time off when he needs that also.
But Sam’s goals are similar to those of his hero, Carrick-on-Suir’s Sean Kelly. He wants to ride in the big races and he wants to make a living as a professional cycling. But he is in no rush.
“I have signed to a French amateur team and will race with them next year. I am in no hurry to turn professional. Some fellas go pro too quickly and burn out as a result but I intend to take my time and ensure that my body is ready for that,” says Sam, a young man with a good head on his shoulders.
“When I was younger my dad always made sure I didn’t cycle too many miles. Young lads want to take long spins but I always kept my work short and sharp. “Your body will be able for the big miles when you are young so you don’t need to push it. I didn’t go past 10 miles until I was 16,” states young Bennett.
Cycling is a serious and intensive sport at the top. It can be lonely and it has many hardships. Although still an amateur, albeit a very promising one, Sam Bennett, even while he is away from cycling and at college, has to let drug testers know where he will be from 6pm to 11pm every day. He has been drug-tested many times. How does he feel about drugs in the sport?
“No sport is tested more than cycling. The governing bodies spend a fortune on testing and they are very serious about kicking drugs out of the sport,” says Sam.
And what about the lonely life of a long distance cyclist?
“It is a bit lonely when I am over in France. Everyone is friendly but I am taking a spot from someone over there, so I am on my own. But you have to be able to stand on your own two feet,” says the determined young man.
Racing bikes for Sam’s level of competition cost between €6,000 and €12,000, a little more than the racer your young fella might want for Christmas, but then very few are in Sam’s class.
European Junior champion, All-Ireland champion and a winner of a Rás stage, beating into second a man that had won four stages in the Tour de France! All this and he isn’t 19 years of age until this Friday.
They know all about Sam around Carrick. He might be the next Sean Kelly. Like Kelly, he is being groomed as a sprinter and, like Kelly, he is tough.
Sam knows Sean (“Sean is sound and a great help to me), and knows the expectations that surround him, but few teenagers have his tunnel vision and confidence. The name should be stored away. Sam Bennett, pride of the Carrick Wheelers.
To catch Emmet's latest column, get
'The Irish Farmers' Journal'
every Thursday...
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