Sam Bennett has been pressured to withdraw from the Vuelta a Espana after testing optimistic for Covid.
he Irish sprinter was a late withdrawal from right now’s Stage 10 time trial after returning a optimistic antigen check and is displaying “some signs” in response to his Bora-Hansgrohe staff.
He’s the eighth rider to be pulled from the race attributable to Covid for the reason that finish of Sunday’s ninth stage.
Bennett’s team-mate Ryan Mullen confirmed the information.
“It is disgrace for Sam and the staff and myself,” mentioned the 2021 Irish nationwide champion, who’s one among Bennett’s key lead-out males. “Sam’s an ideal man and he is come again to his finest type and sadly Covid has caught as much as him most likely together with one other 10 or 20 guys within the race. Clearly somebody someplace introduced it in and now it is going round all of the groups.
“It is a large disgrace and Sam goes to be disenchanted. He deserves to be right here, he is put the work in, and he confirmed that he is again to his finest.”
Bennett gained levels 2 and three of this yr’s race, bouncing again from the frustration of being unnoticed of Bora’s Tour de France staff. The Carrick-on-Suir man had been sitting second within the race for the inexperienced jersey, 5 factors behind Danish rider Mads Pedersen. He was attributable to set off because the eleventh rider down the ramp in right now’s 30.9km time trial from Elche to Alicante.
Yesterday Bennett wrote about his fears of catching Covid through the Vuelta in his diary for Impartial.ie.
“I don’t actually wish to signal autographs due to Covid,” he wrote. “You would have 10 or 20 individuals with completely different pens and tops and jerseys and books and whereas I don’t know the transmissions charges from dealing with stuff like that, it simply feels safer not doing it.
“Typically individuals are standing there for a very long time and would possibly even have one thing Irish with them so I really feel sh***y not doing it but when I get Covid I’m out of the race.
“After a yr plagued with damage and sickness, I spent a very long time attempting to get my profession again on monitor. Tara was pregnant for a few of that so it was fairly irritating at instances and wasn’t truthful on her both.
“Once I ultimately bought some semblance of health again, I nonetheless fully gave up my social life for months earlier than this Vuelta. I’m sorry if I’ve let anybody down however, in spite of everything of that, I can’t afford to catch Covid now.”
