chance to race for himself – he was second to Alessandro Petacchi in one of the stages of the Giro d'Italia. His two wins for the year came in stages of the Tour Méditerranéen (in February) and in the Tour of Poland (in September). 2004: Phonak – A difficult season At the end of 2003, Bennati signed a contract with the team. However, his year in the Swiss team was spoiled by a virus that forced him to drop out of Tirreno–Adriatico, and was followed by a recovery of several months. He did not get any victories during that season. In 2005, he signed a contract with the Italian team , which then merged with to form , a larger team that designed to compete in the UCI ProTour. 2005–07: Lampre – the breakout years 2005 season At Lampre, Bennati grew from a promising domestique into a top sprinter. This transition was not instantaneous: early in 2005, he finished sprints behind both his old leader Cipollini, and teammate Giosuè Bonomi. Nevertheless, he accumulated a number of good finishes: 5th in a stage of Tirreno–Adriatico and 28th at Milan–San Remo. His first important result was in Gent–Wevelgem, where he outsprinted Thor Hushovd and Fabian Cancellara for 3rd place, behind the breakaway of Nico Mattan and Juan Antonio Flecha. He tested positive for Betamethasone after the race, but was only handed a warning by the Italian Cycling Federation. A few weeks later, Bennati won the Giro di Toscana. He did not compete in the Giro d'Italia – where Lampre concentrated on the overall victory with Gilberto Simoni and Damiano Cunego – nor did he ride the Tour de France. In August, he won three stages and the points jersey in the Tour of Germany, and had good placings in important races such as the Grand Prix de Plouay (4th), the Coppa Placci (5th), and the Giro di Romagna (2nd). September brought two more stage victories in the Tour of Poland. Thanks to these results, he was chosen for the Italian national team that competed in the UCI Road World Championships in Madrid, but the team leader, Paolo Bettini, finished only 13th. At the season's close, Bennati was ranked 28th in the UCI Pro Tour standings, and had become a rider to watch. 2006 season During the off-season, Bennati's team changed its secondary sponsor, becoming , and signed another promising Italian sprinter, Danilo