Tour de France Brings The Smack Talk: 'I Have Balls On My Body, He Doesn't'

Cyclist Sam Bennett may not be at this year’s Tour de France, but his Belgian team boss Patrick Lefevere is keeping the Irish rider’s name in the news.

Lefevere claims that Bennett’s knee injury is not as bad as he says it is and that Bennett — last year’s green jersey winner — is ‘mentally weak’ for withdrawing from this year’s race, the Irish Independent reports.

“I can’t prove he doesn’t have knee pain,” Lefevere said last week. “But I’m starting to think more and more that it’s more fear of failure than just pain.”

Lefevere threatened Bennett with non-selection for the rest of the season and with withholding his wages, although the legality of those proposals is dubious, Cyclingnews.com reported.

“If he behaves himself, he will race,” Lefevere said. “If not, then three months less riding and 50% less salary.”

Bennett had his most successful season last year, winning two stages and the green jersey at the Tour de France

Bennett told the Irish Independent last week that he just wasn’t comfortable starting the biggest race in the world with such an injury.

“I need more time to make sure that it’s 100%,” Bennett said. “I want to have a long career and don’t want to take any chances either. I need to build everything up again and just need to have a bit of common sense about it, a bit of maturity. Even though you work your whole career to get to this point... you just have to say... ‘Look there will be other races’ and try and go again next year.”

His boss, though, seems more upset with his lack of respect.

“It’s more unfortunate for him than it is for me,” Lefevere said. “He first wept like a small child when he left Bora-Hansgrohe, and 14 months later, he signs with the same team because he got a little more money. That says more about him than about me. I have balls on my body, he doesn’t.”