Ireland's Tour de France green jersey winner, Sam Bennett, has confirmed that he will be lining up at the Vuelta a España next week.
Just three weeks after his incredible achievement in France, capped off by winning the final stage up the Champs Elysees, Bennett confirmed on Twitter that he will be part of the part of the eight-man Deceuninck-Quick-Step team for the last Grand Tour of the cycling calendar.
This will be the first time that the Carrick-on-Suir cyclist has competed in two Grand Tours in the one year.
"Delighted to get the call up for La Vuelta," Bennett tweeted this afternoon.
"This will be my first time doing two Grand Tours in one season. It will be great to push my limits and see what I’m capable of."
Delighted to get the call up for @lavuelta. This will be my first time doing 2 grand tours in 1 season, it will be great to push my limits and see what I'm capable of. #TheWolfpack https://t.co/3KuiuMPV5A
— Sam Bennett (@Sammmy_Be) October 14, 2020
Unsurprisingly, Bennett chose not to compete at the UCI World Championshipships which took place less than a week after his Tour de France success.
Next week's Tour will begin in the Basque town of Irun on Tuesday and the 29-year-old will be hoping to back up his performance in last year's event when he won two stages, although it might be more difficult with this year's Tour being reduced from 21 stages to 18.
"Our team is a mix of youth and experience, who can deliver some really nice results in Spain," said Deceuninc-Quick-Step sports director Rik Van Slycke.
"Sam is going there after a great Tour de France, and he'll count again on a strong lead-out train, Styby was very motivated to race a Grand Tour this year after dropping out from our Le Tour squad due to that knee injury, while the three young guys on the team – two of whom are neo-pros – will make another important step in their development.
"We will give our best out there and hopefully have a good and rewarding three weeks."
