Bennett to face uphill battle on road in Rio
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say if George Bennett was to pick up a gold medal at the men’s road race in Rio, it would be one of New Zealand’s greatest Olympic achievements.
That’s not to say Bennett doesn’t warrant a seat on the plane to Rio, but that the odds will be so heavily stacked against him that his battle is a huge uphill one, literally and figuratively.
New Zealand qualified to have two riders in the 241km road race that takes place next Sunday. However, Bike NZ only decided to send Bennett, who has just completed the Tour de France.
While the likes of Britain, Italy, Belgium and Spain have five riders in the race, Bennett will be like the riders from Eritrea, Guatemala, Rwanda and United Arab Emirates and be out there on his own.
The 26-year-old Bennett admits it would be an almost impossible task to win a normal race in such circumstances, but says the Rio course does give him hope.
‘‘If there is ever a course where you could get away without support, it’s this one, because it’s so selective and difficult and I think I can poach wheels,’’ Bennett said.
‘‘If you don’t have a team, you have to be a real scrappy rider and be prepared to be physical and fight for position and that’s something I’m quite good at, I’m never scared of bumping handlebars if I have to.
‘‘That’s probably the only way around it. I don’t know which way I’m going to come out of the Tour, I’m either going to be really good, or really bad.
‘‘I think it’s going to be a pretty small group early on and not many guys will have team-mates left.’’
The course, which starts in Fort Copacabana, passes through Ipanema, Barra, and Reserva Maripendi Beaches via the coastal road leading to the 24.8km Pontal / Grumari circuit loop. After four laps, the course returns east via the same coastal road to enter the 25.7km Vista Chinesa Circuit loop at Ga´vea for three laps, before finishing back at Fort Copacabana.
Alejandro Valverde from Spain, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali and recent Tour de France winner Chris Froome, from Britain, are the favourites, while the TAB have Bennett as a $201 outsider.
But Bennett showed at the Tour de France he’s able to stay with the best riders in the world through the mountains and says he’s come out of the three-week lap around France in fine shape.
‘‘I felt super good in the last few days of the Tour, which is a good sign,’’ he said.
‘‘Once I finished and slipped into that recovery mode, I felt like I was completely smashed for a couple of days.
‘‘But after a few days at home, I’ll take some confidence from it, I have the training from the Tour and if I look after myself, I’ll be feeling good for a couple of weeks.’’
Bennett said he couldn’t take a break after the Tour, for fear his body would shut down and this weekend rode in the one-day race, the Clasica San Sebastian.
He flies from his home in Girona, Spain on Monday, having just a few days to reconnoitre the route.
Afterwards, Bennett will have just a couple of weeks before racing again at the Vuelta a Espan˜ a, where there are a gruelling 10 summit finishes.
‘‘We’re sending our best climbing squad to the Vuelta, with Steven Kruijswijk and Robert Gesink,’’ Bennett said of his LottoNL-Jumbo team. ‘‘So it’s going to be an exceptional season that I’ll probably again, with so many never have events.
‘‘Because I’ll be starting the Vuelta a few weeks after the Olympics and that’s going to be a real test.
‘‘After that I’m going to have to stop for the season. When you tell people you’re doing the Tour and the Vuelta they raise their eyebrows, but when you throw in San Sebastian and Rio it’s really a handful.’’