Stage 4 of the Santos Tour Down Under was George Bennett's first real test following an off-season operation to cure a lingering side stitch issue. The LottoNL-Jumbo rider came through with flying colours, with his 15th place in Uraidla only hinting at his role in the race's finale.
Bennett and Richie Porte were the two most active riders, after the latter's BMC team thinned the field on the climb up Norton Summit in anticipation of the rolling roads into the new Uraidla finish.
While the course was hardly suited to the '58-kilo' frames of Bennett and Porte, the New Zealander isn't one to turn down the opportunity to mix it up in a finale.
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"Not to sound like a dick, but it was really easy all day and then super hard at the end. That is freshness and that kick I probably don't have in the season when I am training really hard," Bennett told Cyclingnews, having first accompanied Porte to the BMC van before pedalling to the LottoNL-Jumbo bus.
"Me and Richie probably need to ride together a bit better. I look at him and he is Richie Porte and he can pull, you know. But I also committed really hard and there wasn't the cohesion we needed. I was just schooled in the sprint."
Initially away by themselves as their rivals scrambled to get on the wheels, a lack of cohesion between Bennett and Porte cost the duo as a rampaging Peter Sagan came to the fore and bossed the final three kilometres.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/george-bennett-lights-up-tour-down-under-stage-4-finale
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