Sam Bennett travelled on a tour of Guangxi for the final race against Bora Hansgrohe after repeated illness late in the season. Third place in the sprint in the North Sea in the opening stage provided some encouragement, but his hard work was a reminder that climbed after 2 days on the road Nanning These things always take time.

"I got false hope from the first 2 stages, because they were very easy and could come late by taking advantage of other people's slipstream,"Benet " But in Stage 3, I was discovered. I was dropped early, and I came back about 4 times before being dropped decisively. I was suffering and tired, and I was really tired in the days that followed. I've just spent too much time off the bike due to illness in the last few months.

Bennett responded to the disappointment of missing out on the Tour de France selection by winning the Sibiu Tour stage, but his season has since been like an ordeal but he has since abandoned it at the Boomer Cycle due to illness and was still struggling on the next German tour.

Bennett tried again on a tour of England, where he managed to dig a deeper hole for himself. "It missed a lot of time because when I came out of it I got really sick again for 10 days, and when I tried to train again I just sky

The sprinter has been hardwired to believe tomorrow, but Bennett said that he would not make an expedition to China, but rather to China." He admitted that he might have served better by calling time on his season last month, the trip at least allowed him to mark the retirement of his friend and teammate Shane Archibald, as well as the end of his second spell at Bora Hansgrohe.

"I think it would be better not to do it, but I want to finish with a good note at Bora Hansgrohe, it's Shane Archibald's last race and it's a race I've never done before, so it's nice to be here," Bennett said. "I think it was easier to have a really long winter after the season has stopped," he said. But you just adapt to the situation and you make it work.

Bennett's 2023 season had a perfect start with a win on his first attempt at the Vuelta a Sun Fan, but then endured a series of crazy near misses. On tours in the United Arab Emirates, Paris-Nice, Hungarian tours and the Criterium du Dauphine, the Irishman was always in the picture with a bunch of sprints, but never crossed the line in the first place.

Late May 6, for 2 consecutive years, he was disappointed that he was left out of Bora Hansgrohe's tour team. He absorbed the setback as much as possible by winning in Romania, but unlike in 2022, when he bounced back when he won the Vuelta a España stage, there was no late summer bounce.

"I think it was more difficult this time, but that's it," Bennett said of the tour's omission. By then, it was already clear that he would leave Bora Hansgrohe when his contract expires at the end of the season, and the AG2R Citroen is reported as his most likely destination. For now, Bennett can confirm that he has agreed a contract elsewhere for next year.

"I think I'm stuck in a rut, so the change is probably what I need and I'm really excited for next season," said Bennett, who already knows what was missing during this campaign.

"I'm missing a bit of my top end. I think I need to build a little more engine to get to a little fresh finish and so do 200 or 300 watts or more as I had I'm sprinting at 1200 watts here. I'm still close enough, but it's not the 1500 or 1600 watts I'm used to. I think that's what I can get back during the winter. "

The final stage of the tour of Guangxi in Guilin on Tuesday offers Bennett the last opportunity of the season, but above all it will be the day to fete his friend Archbold, who will serve as directeur sportif at Bora-Hansgrohe next season. "I think he's good at the role because he always knew what he was doing," Bennett said, smiling: "It's also me at a more difficult stage"