Tour de force
‘‘It certainly makes me immensely proud to see George in that position. One of the things people don’t understand is how big cycling is as a sport.’’ Fellow Kiwi and former Tour de France rider Julian Dean on George Bennett
He may be a tad biased but Julian Dean firmly believes George Bennett is New Zealand’s best athlete right now.
Dean, widely regarded as New Zealand’s most successful road cyclist, is currently working as a performance manager at the Tour de France for Australian team Orica-Scott.
And although he may be riding in the colours of a different team, Bennett’s current standing in the top 10 has caught the attention of his compatriot with Dean labelling the Team Lotto-NL Jumbo climber as a ‘‘star of epic proportions’’.
‘‘I know how hard the Tour de France is and I know what is required for an athlete to get the level that George is at and it’s not just training,’’ said Dean, who competed in the Tour de France seven times.
‘‘It’s years and years of accumulative training and learning how to be at these races,’’ he said. ‘‘Learning recovery processes and everything like this that comes together to enable an athlete to put themselves in the position George is in.’’
Dean also believed that if Bennett can finish inside the top 10 at the Tour de France – he’s currently ninth – that the achievement would ‘‘hands down’’ be the best by a bike rider from New Zealand – that’s across all disciplines.
‘‘Anyone in the global cycling world that finishes in the top 10 is considered a very, very valuable rider and even at George’s age he’s got many years left,’’ Dean said.
‘‘If he finishes top 10 this year it’s not inconceivable that he can be on the podium in Paris.
‘‘I’ve certainly seen riders of lesser ability than George get on the podium when all the stars have aligned.’’
Bennett’s performance was even more remarkable given he was handed a 20-second penalty for accepting water from a fan.
Speaking to RadioSport yesterday he slammed the punishment, which was handed to him and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale Drapac) but not Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale).
‘‘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. They were French but they didn’t even get penalties," Bennett said.
Dean said if Bennett was a French, Italian or Spanish rider, or from another major European country, he would be a ‘‘star of epic proportions’’, comparing him to Richie McCaw and Dan Carter here in New Zealand.
‘‘It certainly makes me immensely proud to see George in that position. One of the things people don’t understand is how big cycling is as a sport,’’ Dean said.
‘‘It’s truly a global sport and many of our sports that we hold so dearly in New Zealand are only sports that a few countries in the world participate in but cycling is certainly not like that.
‘‘What I really hope George can do is increase the understanding around the sport.
‘‘A lot of the years I was racing there wasn’t live TV, there certainly wasn’t social media the way it is today. It was always so hard to follow.
‘‘But the event is so accessible now and I really hope that George, being in the position he’s in now, will bring more understanding to people so they can understand how the sport operates.’’
Although Bennett has been the shining light for New Zealand’s record contingent, Dean also praised the performance of 32-year-old Jack Bauer, who is acing his lead-out role for QuickStep Floors in his first Tour de France since breaking his femur two years ago.
‘‘Jack’s a fantastic team-mate and that’s why they brought him to the team and why they wanted him for Marcus Kittel,’’ Dean said.
Meanwhile Bennett was upset after being handed a 20-second penalty for accepting water from a fan on stage 12 of the Tour de France.
The LottoNL-Jumbo rider slammed the punishment, which was handed to him and Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale Drapac) but not Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale). "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," Bennett said.
He described the penalty as "absolute bull-s .... " 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."
Despite receiving the penalty, Team LottoNL-Jumbo sports director Frans Maassen praised Bennett for his courageous performance on stage 12’s mammoth 214km trek from Pau to Peyragudes, a last-gasp attack in the final 500m unable to secure an historic first stage victory for the Kiwi star.
Bennett crossed the line in eighth place, moving him up to ninth place on the general classification standings.