Sean Kelly and Sir David Brailsford discussed signing Sam Bennett to Team Sky

Sean Kelly discussed signing Sam Bennett with Sky’s Sir Dave Brailsford last year.

In an interview with Sean Kelly during the build up to the launch of his team, An Post – Chain Reaction, for 2014 he discussed how he was in talks with Sky’s Sir Dave Brailsford about signing Sam Bennett on two occasions last year.

Sean Kelly revealed that early last season when Sir Dave Brailsford was looking to sign climber Philip Deignan the two also discussed the possibility of signing another Irishman, sprinter Sam Bennett. At the time Sky were sifting through the team’s riders and their history with a fine tooth comb after the revelation revealing the irregularities in the biological passport of Jonathan Tiernan-Locke. Brailsford approached Kelly to talk about Philip Deignan and discus what he was capable of and if he was a safe signing. Kelly reassured Brailsford that ‘Deignan is a good rider [and] a talented rider’. After Sky secured its contract with Deignan it no longer had room for another Irish rider explained Kelly.

‘I spoke to Brailsford again at the tour of Britain and he was inquiring about Bennett’ said Kelly who also pointed out to Brailsford that confidence is an issue with young Bennett. ‘You need to have a guy who works with him if he’s going through difficult times that he doesn't lose the confidence’. ‘I said that to sky I said “if you can work with him. Then you've a guy, Sam, he can win sprints he can get some good results.” Unfortunately with Sky they already had an Irish guy and they had too many riders’.

Sam Bennett’s move to sign a two year contract with German Pro-Continental team NetApp – Endura may be a blessing in disguise kelly explains as with Sky he wouldn’t really get the chance to shine like Sam has already, sparing no time in securing his first pro win early in the season at the Clásica de Almería (and with a sizable gap too).

Team NetApp - Endura were not given a wild card invitation to this year’s Giro de Italia which starts in Ireland on 9th of May but were invited to the Tour de France which Sam Bennett expressed “I’d love to be able to do a Grand Tour like that in my first season,” “I would absolutely love to start [the Tour].”

When asked how he felt about NetApp – Endura not receiving a wild card from the Giro organisers, RCS Sport, Kelly said ‘I think the Giro mightn't be a good one so early in the year [for] Sam. I was thinking later on in the year the Vuelta.’ ‘[Sam] is twenty three he is going on twenty four this year I think to do a big tour [would be good for him], he doesn't have to do it all of course, and he’s the sprinter of the team so there is a possibility of him going there for ten days.’ ‘We could see him doing that at the tour.’ With the Vuelta route presenting twelve mountain top finishes Kelly said although ‘as sprinters go he is able to climb pretty well. He’s stronger then the really top sprinter’ Sam won’t be able to cope with the volume of climbs in this year’s edition of the Spanish race. ‘I haven’t looked at the programme seriously but in the early part of the race there’s surely a number of days there with flat stages, the mountain days you just get through.’ ‘The Vuelta wouldn’t be a problem for [Sam] to go there for ten days’. But the organisers of the Spanish Grand Tour announced its wild card picks yesterday and unfortunately Net App-Endura were not one of the four teams named so if Bennett is to make a Grand Tour appearance this year if it will be in Le Tour were The German Pro continental team were already invited.