Bennett recommits to Dutch team with extended deal
George Bennett has revealed he knocked back more lucrative offers from other World Tour teams to sign a three-year extension with Lotto-NL-Jumbo.
Having already spent the past four years with the Dutch outfit, Bennett said the decision to extend his stay until the end 2021 was motivated by a desire put himself in the best possible position for a genuine shot at winning the Tour de France.
Although Bennett skipped the Tour this year, that call was made with his long-term development in mind. Instead, Lotto-NL-Jumbo’s sports directors wanted the 28-yearold to concentrate on the other two Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana, before returning in 2019 as a serious contender.
‘‘It was a pretty easy decision,’’ said Bennett, who confirmed his new three-deal late this week. ‘‘I would be stupid not to talk to other teams and we did that just to give ourselves a better position but, since last year, Lotto had been talking about it and it wasn’t really a normal negotiation process. They said ‘look we’re going to make you a good offer’, I thought about it for a week, we talked to a lot of teams as there was a lot of interest, and I had to look past the money and more at what I wanted to do.’’
Earlier this year, Lotto-NL-Jumbo sporting director Merijn Zeeman told Stuff the team’s long-term vision was to have a rider win the Tour, and Bennett, who has already achieved two top-10 finishes at Grand Tours, has been groomed as the man to achieve that ambitious goal.
‘‘Whether or not that’s achievable, I don’t know. But getting as close as possible is the goal and just to have the best Tour I can do. Then I can look back on my career and at least say I really tried.’’
One of the teams Bennett attracted interest from was Mitchelton-Scott, who have other New Zealand riders Jack Bauer, Sam Bewley and Georgia Williams on their books. But, like some of the other alternatives, they already have established general classification contenders.
Bennett’s next race, and his only hit-out before the Vuelta, will be the Tour of Poland on August 4.