GEORGE BENNETT

The guitar- playing Kiwi reveals his diverse musical tastes

I've got wide- ranging tastes - anything from Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead to Jurassic 5 and Sublime

What’s your favourite race?

I have about six. One is Lombardy though, there’s something romantic about it – it’s just a beautiful, epic race. There’s drama, it’s the last race of the year so everyone throws it on the line and there’s great food. Afterwards, I always go and get a bottle of wine and some ham and look back on the season I’ve had.

What’s your favourite climb?

That’d be the backside of the Takaka Hill back home. You get to the top, look out over the Golden Bay and the top of the South Island. It’s stunning. Go there.

Who’s the best domestique in the peloton?

I couldn’t split Sam Bewley and Jack Bauer. They’re completely selfless and do the stuff no one sees. No one mentions their names and then it comes to contract year and they’re still getting underpaid. They just chip on regardless.

Who is your funniest team-mate?

We all saw Victor Campenaerts’s antics at the Giro. That put a smile on my face. [Campenaerts asked a girl on a date by writing the question on his chest and unzipping his skinsuit to reveal the message as he sat on the start line of the stage 10 TT in Montefalco. He picked up a fine and a ticking off from his team for being unprofessional. However, he did get the date.]

What would you be doing if you weren’t a professional bike rider?

I play the guitar, so if dreams are free I’d love to have been a musician. I don’t know if that’s what I would be doing, though; something in science maybe.

What is the one thing the UCI could do to improve racing?

Get rid of these ridiculous 220km flat road stages where we have a sprint regardless. They’re just a waste of time.

What is your best asset as a rider?

Optimism.

Do you have any pre-race rituals or superstitions?

I’m not superstitious, but good music’s always key before a race. I’ve got very wide-ranging tastes – anything from classic Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead through to Jurassic 5 and Sublime. The whole range, but none of this terrible new noise that they call music. What result are you most proud of up until this point? Tenth in the Vuelta last year. It was hard fought and didn’t come easy at all, whereas, say, my Tour of California victory this year just sort of came.

Who was your cycling hero?

I developed cycling heroes pretty late because I was into rugby and then when I got into cycling it was Carlos Sastre, Fränk and Andy Schleck – and Jensie [Jens Voigt] was a bit of a hero as well. I ended up riding with them in my first year, which was pretty cool.

Who’ll win the Tour in five years’ time?

A Yates twin. Simon. No, Adam. I don’t know.