Sam Bennett and his family – which is about to get one bigger – has left Monaco and relocated to Ireland, Cork to be precise (Photo: Marco Alpozzi)
By Shane Stokes
Sam Bennett’s recent interview with stickybottle was most notable for his disclosure of a heart issue and the surgery he underwent to treat that, but it also included another surprise.
After years of living abroad in Monaco and rubbing shoulders in the town with celebrities and other elite sports people, he and his family have relocated and will now be based close to Cork city.
Given he is from Carrick-on-Suir, and given the fine weather plus the community of pro riders and others he built up in Monaco, what was the reason for his relocation?
“My idea was…well, first of all, I think my family outgrew apartment living,” Bennett told stickybottle. “I wanted to give my son a garden and to start school in our own culture. I think that was important.
“On the sporting side, I just thought that I can’t continue doing the same thing expecting a different result. So I said, let’s move home.
“It’s a really nice home, nice environment. I get my best legs in Ireland anyway. So the next weeks now, I will be at home in Ireland, discovering the same style of roads, but in a different area.”
Bennett’s reference to roads echoes the sentiments previously expressed decades ago by fellow Carrick native Sean Kelly.
Kelly won seven straight editions of Paris-Nice and one factor attributed to his strong early season form was the time he spent at home in Ireland in the off season.
Why is that relevant?
“They are just slow, heavy roads,” Bennett explained. “The thing is, when I was living in Monaco, you do so much climbing. You do five hours, but an hour to an hour and a half of that is descending.
“Whereas if you do five hours here, you are five hours on the pedals, and you do that every day. That’s a lot more quality work throughout the year.
“Whenever I came home for a week or two, I just get this base, this endurance kind of fitness where I could repeat efforts. I don’t know what it is, I just got my best legs in Ireland. So I’m hoping now with everything, with all the pieces of the puzzle together, that it clicks.”
It is understood the proximity of the airport is one reason for his decision to live in Cork rather than Carrick-on-Suir. So too his friendship with many people from the Cork area, including new teammate Eddie Dunbar, Dillon Corkery (Team Picnic PostNL) and Richard Maes.
But he’ll also spent blocks of time abroad, both at races and also at training camps. His base will now be in Ireland, but he remains an international athlete.
“We’ll still be doing a lot of things with diet, altitude and stuff,” he said, underlining that he won’t be siloed away from the team. “The way the sport is going, you have to be on it with everything. You can leave no stone unturned. The level is just so high.
“Even if I got selected for the Tour, it’s such a high level. Okay, I want to be on my top level, but you really have to be on it. Everything really has to be perfect.”
Physical condition aside, he’ll also have additional motivation. His wife Tara told Stickybottle on Thursday that they will soon be expecting their second child. His son Benjamin will have a new sibling, and Bennett will have additional incentive to race as well as possible.