Bennett slams Tour water penalty
Kiwi punished for accepting drink from fan, breaking a rule he didn’t know existed
Kiwi rider George Bennett remains in the Tour de France top 10 despite being handed a 20- second penalty for accepting water from a fan, which he has labelled “bullshit”.
Bennett finished eighth in the 214km 12th stage and moved to ninth overall despite the time penalty.
Second placed Colombian rider Rigoberto Uran was also given the same penalty, although Bennett says several French riders also accepted water bottles from fans but weren’t sanctioned.
“That’s just absolute bullshit,” the Tour of California winner told Radio Sport.
“I’d run out of water and took a bottle of water from a fan on the side of the road. I took one and Uran took one and so did a couple of other guys but they were French but they didn’t even get penalties.
“That really winds me up actually. We protested and they said ‘ that’s the rule’.
“I didn’t even know that was a rule, to be honest. I’ve never heard of it and I’ve been a professional for seven years and never seen it.”
Putting the penalty aside, yesterday was another big day for the Team Lotto NL- Jumbo rider who sits 4m 24s behind yellow jersey holder Fabio Aru on the general classification.
The mountain ride from Pau to Eymet in the Pyrenees was another big test and Bennett came through with a strong performance which he said was major boost of confidence.
“You always back yourself but you’re never quite sure. [ Yesterday] was just good for another confirmation,” he said.
“Sometimes you just rip out a really good day but if you rip out two good days, it generally means you’re pedalling pretty well.”
“Now I really think I’m in the fight, It’s possible to really finish in the top 10, which would be pretty special.
“Staring down the barrel of an absolutely crazy day [ overnight] and another stack of mountain stages after that.”
On an unprecedented day that featured a final climb on a 20 per cent gradient, race favourite Team Sky British rider Chris Froome cracked and fell off the pace, losing his yellow jersey in the process.
Never before had Froome lost the maillot jaune to a general classification rival.
The three- time champion finished 20s behind Aru at the ski station of Peyragudes, and 22s behind the stage winner, France’s increasingly impressive Romain Bardet.
He is 6s behind Aru overall and 19s ahead of Bardet. Tiny margins. But for the first time, three- time tour champion Froome showed a chink of vulnerability.
Having benefited from the strongest team on the day — Froome was the only rider to have teammates with him on the final two climbs of the day — the 32- year- old laboured up the final 500m, admitting that he had no excuses.
“I just didn’t have the legs on the final kick,” he said.
The 13th stage from Saint- Girons to Foix raced overnight on Bastille Day was another brutal mountain stage which featured three category one climbs. Bennett was expecting a frantic day of racing.
“It’s 100km which i s incredibly short, so we’re going to have some fireworks,” he said.
“Hopefully I’m on the right side of those explosions.”