Bennett’s team
Huddled around an iPad with his Jumbo-Visma team-mates, Kiwi cyclist George Bennett watched in disbelief as Tadej Pogacar produced ‘‘the ride of the century’’ to snatch the yellow jersey from Tour de France leader Primoz Roglic on a highlydramatic penultimate stage.
Roglic looked odds on to deliver Jumbo-Visma’s first Tour de France triumph after leading for 11 days, only for fellow Slovenian Pogacar to devour his 57-second advantagewith a spectacular effort during Sunday’s decisive time trial to become the youngest winner of the famous race since 1904.
The 22-year-old UAE Team Emirates rider was almost two minutes quicker than Roglic over the 36.2 kilometre course and earned the right to celebrate on the final stage procession into Paris yesterday.
‘‘This is just the top of the top,’’ Pogacar said. ‘‘It’s been an amazing three-week adventure.’’
Knowing how much JumboVisma had invested in this year’s Tour and how close they came to winning, Bennett said it was heartbreaking towatch Roglic’s yellow jersey hopes evaporate right before his eyes. He was devastated for his team-mate.
‘‘We were all at the top watching it on TV and obviously it’s pretty emotional,’’ said Bennett, who rode almost the entire race with a suspected broken rib after crashing on the opening stage.
‘‘Everyone is tired and had invested everything – the whole year had been built around it – and obviously itwas a real tough watch.
‘‘What can you say in a time like that? You can only watch and feel for Rogla.’’
Bennett said he went for a walk to compose himself.
‘‘Everyone was so invested in it. We’ve put so much energy and time and suffering into it, so of coursewewere upset. We were upset for ourselves and upset for Primoz.
‘‘But by the time we got to dinner, had a couple of beers and some laughs, we started to come to terms that actually we rode the perfect race and this guy’s just done the ride of the century.’’
Although they ultimately fell short of their main objective, Bennett believed it was still a successful Tour de France for Jumbo-Visma.