Sam Bennett looks set to sign for Deceuninck-QuickStep after resolving his contract saga with Bora-hansgrohe.
The rumours of the Irish champion’s move to the Belgian team have been going for months but nothing has been formalised.
Lefereve and Bennett had reached an oral agreement just before the Tour de France, but Bora-hansgrohe blocked it and then suggested and exchange of the Irishman for Alvaro Hodeg, something that Patrick Lefevere, the long-standing team boss at Quick-Step, completely ruled out.
“It is moving, in a positive sense,” said Lefevere. “Of course, you are only certain when you have a signed contract in your hands. But yes, it is almost there.
“This is a good thing too because this matter has been dragging on for so long. I suspect at Bora-hansgrohe they will be waiting for as long as possible to make Bennett nervous and make him pay. But in the end, they will realise that you can’t do much with a rider that wants to leave. So I foresee a happy ending.”
“Of course, we have two strong sprinters with Fabio Jakobsen and Hodeg, but they are still young. And with 285 days of competition per year, it’s not a luxury to have three sprinters in the team,” said Lefevere. “This is excellent news”.
