Deceuninck – Quick-Step Floors Cycling Team (Belgium) - Press Release: The Irish Champion and the Kiwi join the Wolfpack until at least the end of 2021.

Most successful team in the world for the eighth consecutive season, Deceuninck – Quick-Step have signed sprinter Sam Bennett, with the Irish National Champion joining the squad on a two-year deal. He will be joined at the team by his good friend and lead-out man Shane Archbold, who has also penned a two-year deal, thus completing our roster for 2020.

29-year-old Bennett was actually born in Wervik, Belgium, before his parents took him back to their native Ireland when he was four, where he grew up in Carrick-on-Suir, the hometown of the famous Sean Kelly. Once he had completed his education, Sam’s talent on the bike was spotted by Vélo Club La Pomme, Marseille, where he began his path to a career in cycling that saw him turn professional in 2014. Since then he has built a reputation as on the of best sprinters around, having taken 42 victories to date, including 5 Grand Tour stages and the Irish National Championship.

Archbold, who hails from Timaru on New Zealand’s South Island, has carved out a reputation as one of the best lead-out men in the business, forging a formidable partnership with Bennett. The early part of his career was dominated by his work on the track, which is perhaps where he honed his skill for negotiating a hectic peloton and saw him win a Commonwealth Gold Medal, as well as World Championship Silver. Since then moving to the road he has forged a successful partnership with Bennett that has seen him pilot the Irish man to many of his victories.