Sam Bennett (opens in new tab) did not mention Patrick Lefebvre at the start of the European Championships (opens in new tab) in Trento on Sunday, limiting his comments to comments about the race.

The European Championships was Bennett's first race since the Volta ao Algarve in early May.

Since then, Bennett has been removed from the Deceuninck-QuickStep (open in new tab) Tour de France team and faced criticism from Lefebvre. Bennett, who is leaving Deceuninck-QuickStep at the end of the season to return to Bora-Hansgrohe, remained true to his opinions throughout the summer despite Lefebvre's torment.

The Irish rider took a similar stance when questioned by Belgian TV station Sporza at the start of Trento.

"Today will be a hard day. The first climb is the first challenge and then we'll take it one climb at a time. It's going to be a hard day," Bennett said. When asked specifically about Sporza's description of his relationship with Lefebvre as "disturbing," Bennett replied: "I just want to focus on today's race and forget about it and focus on the race."

In June, Roufevia suspected the seriousness of Bennett's knee injury: "I can't prove that he doesn't have knee pain, but I'm starting to think he's more afraid of failure than pain."

In June, Roufevia was asked if Bennett's knee injury was serious.

Rufevia later apologized for this and other remarks, but then threatened to bench the player and cut his annual salary.

"If he behaves, he's in the race. If not, it's a three-month suspension and a 50 percent pay cut," Lefebvre told Cycling News.

He then compared Bennett to Mark Cavendish, criticizing the mental weakness in the Irishman's head.

"The sprint train [at the Tour] is for Sam and you can't change the program for the riders in the last week. It doesn't work. Everyone has been mentally preparing for months. I can't say that Mark is inferior to Sam. He deserves the best lead out

"He is not like Sam. First of all, Mark is much headstronger than Sam. Even when Sam was the fastest, he always doubted himself."

At the end of July, Lefebvre went even further: in his weekly column in Het Nieuwsblad. magazine, he again discussed Bennett's mental strength before likening the Irish rider's return to the mullet to a woman returning to an abusive relationship. 'And finally, Sam Bennett. To me, he is the pinnacle of spiritual vulnerability," Lefebvre said. [He left Bora, complaining to everyone that he was 'bullied,' almost broke, and depressed. Only to return 14 months later. It's like a woman who suffers domestic abuse and still comes home."

On the eve of the European Championships, Belgian team bosses questioned whether Bennett was simply racing to stave off Belgium's attempts to cut his salary, but after being eliminated early in the race, Bennett was limited to a brief description of his current condition at the start line I'm concentrating on the race and getting back to fitness. I'm concentrating on the race and getting my fitness back. I'm concentrating on getting my fitness back. Everything is going in the right direction.