Daniele Bennati: Rider Profile

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DANIELE BENNATI

Date of birth: 24/09/1980

From: Arezzo, Italy

Team: Leopard- Trek

Previous teams: Acqua & Sapone (2002); Domina Vacanze (2003); Phonak (2004); Lampre (2005-2007), Liquigas (2008-2010)

Daniele Bennati career profile

Italy's Daniele Bennati has emerged as one of the best sprinters in the world despite being dogged by illness and injuries in recent years.

From Arezzo in the heart of Tuscany, Bennati turned professional at just 21 and learnt the secrets of professional sprinting as part of Mario Cipollini's lead out train. He won his first race at the Tour of Austria in the summer of 2002 and has now has over 30 races in his palmares.

Bennati went on to add quality to quantity in 2007 when he won two stages at the Tour de France, including the last sprint on the Champs Elysees. He also won the sprint in Madrid at the end of the Vuelta Espana, where he won two other stages. He has also showed some talent for the cobbled classics. He was third in the 2005 edition of Ghent-Wevelgem and teamed up with Alessandro Ballan in several classics while riding at Lampre.

Bennati moved to Liquigas in 2008 but a knee and ligament problem meant he did not race until late April. He went up against Mark Cavendish in the Giro d'Italia sprints; Bennati won three stages to Cavendish's two and took the point's jersey but the young Manxman was slightly faster in the head to head sprints.

Bennati missed the Tour de France with an Achilles heel problem but won a stage at the Vuelta Espana and wore the leader's jersey after Liquigas won the opening TTT.

Despite having to fight for position in the adrenaline-fuelled sprints, Bennati is actually one of the nicest riders in the peloton and would not hurt a fly. He let Mark Cavendish come through a gap against the barriers in a sprint in the 2008 Giro d'Italia and openly talks about being religious and honest.

With Filippo Pozzato joining Katusha, Bennati became the protected sprinter and classics leader at Liquigas in 2009. He took on Cavendish again at the centenary Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, but failed to win a stage.

Signing for the newly-former Leopard- Trek team in 2011, he finished 3rd overall at the Tour of Qatar.

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Daniele Bennati results

2010

Tirreno-Adriatico; stage three

Tour of Oman; stage two



2009

Tour of Majorca; stage three

Giro di Sardegna; overall

Giro di Sardegna; stage four

Giro di Sardegna; points classification

Giro della Provincia di Grosseto; stage one

2008

Giro d'Italia; stage three

Giro d'Italia; stage nine

Giro d'Italia; stage 12

Giro d'Italia; points jersey

Vuelta a Espana; stage one (TTT)

Vuelta a Espana; stage four

Tour of Romandie; stage five

Eneco Tour; stage three

Giro del Piemonte

2007

Tour de France: stage 17

Tour de France; stage 20

Vuelta a Espana; stage one

Vuelta a Espana; stage 17

Vuelta a Espana; stage 21

Tour of the Mediterranean; stage two

Vuelta Valenciana; stage one

Vuelta Valenciana; stage three

Vuelta Valenciana; stage five

Three Days of La Panne; stage two

2006

Tour of Switzerland; stage seven

Tour of Poland; stage two

Tour of Poland; stage four

Vuelta Valenciana; stage five

Giro del Trentino: stage four

Giro del Piemonte

GP Citta di Misano

GP Prato

Memorial Pantani

2005

Tour of Poland; stage two and four

Tour of Germany; stage three

Tour of Germany; stage five

Tour of Germany; stage nine

Giro della Toscana

2003

Tour of Poland; stage three

Tour of the Mediterranean; stage five

2002

Tour of Austria; stage one

Regio Tour; stage five

Daniele Bennati photos

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