Withdraws from Tour due to ill health
leaving the Tour is just the worst.”
Bennett said he started feeling tired during stage 14 into Rodez and then got worse during stage 15.
“I had a bit of a fever but nothing serious at all. I really suffered that day but made the group with the 10 best guys in the race so I wasn’t panicking.
“Then on the rest day after lunch, it just hit me. I spent the day in bed and then I couldn’t move and then serious fever. I couldn’t eat or drink. They made my dinner in a blender and I tried to get as much food in as I could. I woke up [yesterday morning] and the fever had gone away.
“We started the first climb and we hoped a few guys would roll off easy and I could survive but it didn’t work out like that. It turned into an absolute battle and I was on the wrong end of it,” Bennett said.
“When you’re struggling to ride straight and your head is breaking out in cold sweats and you can’t hold the wheel of the biggest sprinter in the race and you’re going up a hill and you’re meant to be one of the best climbers and he’s dropping you — it’s time to pull the plug,” he said.
Australian Michael Matthews won the stage, his second victory of the 2017 Tour. British rider Chris Froome retained the yellow jersey. Patrick Bevin is now the top Kiwi in the Tour in 104th place.
Bennett said there would have been a good chance to climb back into the top 10 had he been well. “The good thing about Tour de France is that it happens every year and there is other chances for it.”
Disgraced former seven-times champion Lance Armstrong, who was stripped of his titles for doping, had previously labelled Bennett one to watch on the tour after he worked his way into the top-10.
“I hope we didn’t jinx him,” Armstrong said. “He’s a young guy, he’s a small rider . . . you never know why or how somebody gets sick.
“This is not a human event, this is an inhumane event. I’ve still got stock in George Bennett — he’s still an exciting one to watch.”