The Vuelta a España, the first Grand Tour in two years, will begin on Friday. The goal, he told reporters, is to "find myself and win."

The Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter was hit hard by a knee injury late in the 2021 season, leading to a tumultuous end to his withdrawal from Quick Step.

She won only one race this year, at Eschborn-Frankfurt. However, because of Bora-Hansgrohe's emphasis on the overall classification, Bennett was not selected for the Tour de France. The Vuelta was Bennett's last big chance this season to compete in the Vuelta.

That chance was confirmed after the Tour de Pollogne, and his fifth place in the recent European Championships showed that the 31-year-old's form was "coming," as he recognized at a press conference Wednesday morning.

Bennett is riding for a team with multiple goals in this Vuelta, including GC, and the two flat early stages in the Netherlands are two clear opportunities for a group sprint.

Bennett will be looking to follow in the footsteps of Sean Kelly, who took the points jersey in 1988, Kelly's fourth in nine events. But the top priority is the stage.

"First there is the team time trial, but I would be really happy to win a stage here. I won't win the Vuelta that day, but I will definitely lose," Bennett said.

"So I'll give it 100% there, do a solid TTT, and then go for my goal.

"I want to win a stage here and take the points jersey. But with that goal in mind, it's also a chance to find my level again. It's been two years since my last Grand Tour and I've been feeling it because I've been absent for the last two years. So I want to find myself in this race again and win it."

With two stages in 2019 and one from 2020, Bennett's track record at the Vuelta is good. But that also means higher expectations: at 31 years old, Bennett, who boasts eight stage wins in Grand Tours, admitted that with his history, the pressure to add a stage is "there."

"I've won at least one stage every time I've competed in a Grand Tour since 2018, and I want to keep that pattern going, although it's probably more pressure on myself than outside pressure," he said.

Bennett has been training in the heat to prepare for the high temperatures in southern Spain. Since this year's Tour de Pollogne was not raced in the warmest of conditions, Bennett trained in winter clothing at his base in Monaco to raise his body temperature and acclimatize.

"Right now, I have to try to survive. But I've been a pro for years now, and I've done a lot of hot races, so I should be fine."

On the other hand, compared to the 2020 event, which was delayed due to a pandemic in which Bennett last competed, this Vuelta is different in the light. Bennett said, "I couldn't see where my front wheel was against other people's back wheels."

For Bennett and the other sprinters, the usual August slots are more favorable, and with Ryan Mullen, Danny van Poppel, and Jonas Koch in Bora-Hansgrohe's squad, he can rely on a solid leadout.

"One of the hardest things for me here is the amazing opportunities I've had with the race program, the team, the bikes, and the riders around me. And feeling that I'm not 100% ready to take that chance. ...... You don't want to be ready to seize that opportunity when it's gone."

"But I'm happy and confident that I'm ready for that coming into this race. Honestly, the guys are getting me there. Having that support makes my job so much easier. If you are in the right position, opportunities will come. In that sense, [sprinting] is a numbers game."

But for sprinters, the important thing is not to be in the game, but to hit the jackpot.