Bennett settles for support role
Leading New Zealand cyclist George Bennett holds no grudges despite missing out on a leadership role for the Tour de France.
‘‘I’m sure my time will come. Just throwing my hands in the air and complaining is not the answer,’’ said Bennett, who kicks off his World Tour season at the Tour Down Under in Adelaide this week.
‘‘The better thing to do is show you’re willing to help, speak with your legs and earn your spot for future races. That’s what I intend to do anyway.’’
Hoping to stake a claim for 2019, the 28-year-old Nelson product bypassed last season’s Tour in order to focus on the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana.
However, two of his Team Jumbo-Visma team-mates excelled in his absence, with Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk both cracking the Tour’s top-five.
Weighed up against Bennett’s best Grand Tour result, an eighthplace finish at the Giro, Jumbo-Visma’s sporting directors have opted to pin their general classification hopes on Kruijswijk once again, with sprinter Dylan Groenewegen tasked with hunting for stage victories.
‘‘It not really an issue where we suck and we’re under pressure. We’re in a really good position where we’re splitting hairs between three good guys. I finished eighth at a Grand Tour and the other guys finished in the topfive. It’s only a few places but that’s what we’re dealing with. They have to make a decision and at the moment they have to go with the older, more experienced guys.
‘‘If Rogla and Stevie are knocking on the door of the podium then it’ll be all hands on deck and there will be no opportunities at all and you just suck it up for 21 days, take the hit and make sure you make the most of your opportunity at the Vuelta when you’re the protected rider.
"But I can’t have any qualms about it. They deserve it. I was eighth in the Giro but Stevie was fifth in the Tour and Roglic fourth so that carries a bit more weight. It just means I’m going to have to step it up to get that role back for the Tour in future years.
‘‘I think it’s important you go to the Tour and put in a bloody good showing because often the tables turn and I’m needing help from the other guys and you want to do the best job you can so when it’s their turn to work they’re also going to give it 100 per cent as well. I’m not just going to cruise into the Tour, I’m going to be as good as I can so when it comes to my turn they reciprocate.’’
Bennett will get his opportunity to lead Jumbo-Visma at the Vuelta, where he has unfinished business after finishing well outside top-10 contention last year, and various week-long stage races including the Tour of California, where he achieved his only professional victory in 2017.
‘‘For the week-long stage races I was putting in some good performances last season and I think that’s why I’m still going to lead at essentially every other race I do.
‘‘If I can get a top-five at the Vuelta and a podium at one of those big World Tour races that’d be a pretty successful year. Last year I was close but it just didn’t go my way.’’