Comments made by the general manager of Sam Bennett’s Deceuninck Quick Step team in the wake of the Carrick riders decision not to start the Tour de France are not surprising.
That’s the view of fellow Carrick man and former World number one Sean Kelly ahead of the start next Saturday.
Bennett injured his knee in training earlier this month and announced on Monday that he would not be defending his Green Jersey as he wouldn’t be at the level he always strives to be at to win bunch sprints at the biggest race in the world.
Team manager Patrick Lefevere hit out at Bennett saying he thought the 30 year olds decision not to ride the Tour was more to do with a fear of failure than just pain.
Speaking to Tipp FM today Sean Kelly said the comments are probably more to do with the fact that the Belgian outfit can’t afford to keep Sam on board.
“Patrick Lefevere has said already quite a number of weeks back that Bennett is not staying in the team.”
“Sam has definitely improved since he went to Quick Step because of the team that’s built around him there so yeah it’s a little bit of he wants to get back at Bennett because he’s not staying with him for the next number of years.”
“It’s nothing new – I’ve heard before from a lot of team owners and managers where riders are moving on.”
