Sam Bennett misses out on place at Tour de France

Sam Bennett will be a notable Irish absentee from the Tour de France after failing to make Bora-Hansgrohe's eight-man team for cycling's most prestigious race.

The 109th edition of the race will get under way in Copenhagen on Friday, with the 31-year-old seemingly paying a heavy price for his team's decision to focus on general classification contender Aleksandr Vlasov.

Bennett's compatriot and lead-out man Ryan Mullen has also been passed over for a place on the team.

Vlasov has been deemed fit to tackle the sport's most onerous test despite contracting Covid-19 last week when leading the Tour de Suisse, which resulted in his withdrawal.

Max Schachmann and Marco Haller, who have also both recently tested positive for coronavirus, have been named on the German team, alongside Nils Politt, Lennard Kamna, Patrick Konrad, Felix Grobschartner and Danny van Poppel, with the latter occupying the sprint role Bennett would have coveted.

It's an unwanted case of deja vu for the Carrick-on-Suir rider, who also missed last year's Tour after failing to get the nod from Deceuninck-QuickStep, a decision that prompted his exit from the team.