George Bennett (cyclist)

George Bennett (born 7 April 1990) is a New Zealand professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jumbo–Visma.[7] He represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

George Bennett
Bennett at the 2015 Tour of Belgium
Personal information
Full nameGeorge Bennett
Born (1990-04-07) 7 April 1990
Nelson, New Zealand
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1]
Weight58 kg (128 lb; 9 st 2 lb)[2]
Team information
Current teamTeam Jumbo–Visma
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimber
Amateur teams
2010Club Routier des 4 Chemins
2011Trek–Livestrong
2011Team RadioShack (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2012–2013RadioShack–Nissan[3]
2014Cannondale[4]
2015–LottoNL–Jumbo[5][6]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
1 TTT stage (2019)

Stage races

Tour of California (2017)

One day races and Classics

Gran Piemonte (2020)

Career

Bennett was born in Nelson in 1990,[8] where he was educated at Waimea College.[9] He originally took up cycle racing as a mountain biker, moving to Switzerland in 2009 to pursue his amateur career.[10] Bennett turned professional in 2012.[11] He competed with the RadioShack–Nissan squad for two seasons before moving to Cannondale in 2014.[4][12]

LottoNL–Jumbo (2015–present)

In October 2014, it was announced that he would join LottoNL–Jumbo for the 2015 season.[13] In May 2015, he was barred from starting the Giro d'Italia due to low cortisol levels (later discovered to have been caused by illness), as per Mouvement pour un cyclisme crédible (MPCC) rules. He was not replaced by his team.[14] He was named in the start list for the 2016 Tour de France[15] and finished in 53rd place.[16] His most impressive performance in the Tour de France was finishing seventh on stage nine at Andorre Arcalis, judged by some as the toughest stage that year.[8]

He competed in the Men's individual road race at the 2016 Summer Olympics and came 33rd; he described the race as "absolutely" the toughest in his career, and 79 riders did not finish.[17]

In 2017, he became the first New Zealander to win the general classification at a UCI World Tour cycling event, when he won the Tour of California.[18] Bennett also entered the Tour de France, and finished 7th on Stage 9, but retired midway through stage 16 when he came down with gastroenteritis.[19] He would return to Girona to recover.

In November 2019, Bennett underwent surgery to remove three ribs due to experiencing chronic slipping rib syndrome.[20]

Bennett started his 2020 season at the Tour Down Under where he placed 8th overall.[21] In February at the National Championships, Bennett finished second in the road race after spending 80 kilometres (50 miles) out in front by himself only for Shane Archbold to catch and sprint past him on the line.[22] When the season resumed after the interruption by the COVID-19 pandemic, he managed to get 5th overall in both the Vuelta a Burgos and the Tour de l'Ain. Bennett's form continued through to Gran Piemonte where he attained his first ever one-day win.[23] Three days later at Il Lombardia, he got the highest ever result by a New Zealander in a Cycling monument by placing second behind Jakob Fuglsang.[24] He participated in the Tour de France, where he wore Māori-themed Shimano S-Phyre shoes painted by his artist girlfriend, Caitlin Fielder.[25]

Major results
Bennett at the 2019 Tour of California, where he finished fourth overall.
2009
2nd Overall Tour de Vineyards
9th Overall Tour of Wellington
2010
2nd Overall Tour de Vineyards
1st Stage 3
6th Overall Ronde de l'Isard
9th Overall Tour of Wellington
2011
1st Overall Tour of Wellington
2nd Overall Ronde de l'Isard
3rd Overall Tour de Vineyards
4th Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships
2012
4th Overall Tour de Vineyards
2013
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
8th Overall USA Pro Cycling Challenge
2014
9th Overall Tour of Utah
9th Overall Tour de Vineyards
2015
5th Road race, National Road Championships
10th Overall Tour Down Under
2016
7th Overall Tour of California
10th Overall Vuelta a España
2017
1st Overall Tour of California
7th Overall Abu Dhabi Tour
9th Overall Volta a Catalunya
2018
4th Road race, National Road Championships
4th Overall Tour de Pologne
5th Overall Tour of the Alps
6th Overall Volta a Catalunya
8th Overall Giro d'Italia
9th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
10th Giro di Lombardia
2019
1st Stage 2 (TTT) Tour de France
4th Time trial, National Road Championships
4th Overall Tour of California
6th Overall Paris–Nice
2020
1st Gran Piemonte
National Road Championships
2nd Road race
2nd Time trial
2nd Giro di Lombardia
5th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
5th Overall Tour de l'Ain
8th Overall Tour Down Under
2021
8th Gravel and Tar Classic

Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Giro d'Italia 122 — DNS — — 8 — —
Tour de France — — — 53 DNF — 24 34
Vuelta a España — 89 37 10 DNF 35 33 12
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
IP In progress

References
  1. "Team Jumbo-Visma – George Bennett". Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  2. "George Bennett". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  3. "Bennett to link up with RadioShack-Nissan-Trek". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  4. Brian Holcombe (19 November 2013). "Bennett survives tough job market with Cannondale deal". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  5. "Cheery Christmas for ambitious Team Jumbo-Visma". Team Jumbo–Visma. Team Oranje Road BV. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  6. "Team Jumbo-Visma 2020 roster presented in Amsterdam". Bianchi. F.I.V. Edoardo Bianchi S.p.A. 20 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  7. "Jumbo-Visma". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  8. Long, David (12 July 2016). "Kiwi rider George Bennett has bike checked for motor at Tour de France". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  9. Reich, Josh (6 December 2010). "Wheels of good fortune". Nelson Mail. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  10. "George Bennett guest column: a stitch in time". Rouleur. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  11. "Kittel, Voigt and Velits set for Santos Tour Down Under". Cycling Central. Special Broadcasting Service. 8 January 2013. Archived from the original on 10 January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  12. Shane Stokes (19 November 2013). "Kiwi climber Bennett signs contract with Cannondale Pro Cycling". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
  13. "George Bennett joins Belkin". sbs.com.au. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  14. Emil Axelgaard (8 May 2015). "Low cortisol levels take Bennett out of the Giro". Cycling Quotes. CyclingQuotes.com 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  15. "2016 > 103rd Tour de France > Startlist". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  16. Rollo, Phillip (31 July 2016). "Riding to Rio – George Bennett backs up from solid Tour de France debut". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  17. Gilhooly, Daniel (7 August 2016). "Gamble doesn't pay for shattered George Bennett". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  18. "George Bennett becomes first Kiwi to win World Tour cycling event at Tour of California". Stuff.co.nz. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  19. "Tour de France 2017: George Bennett forced to pull out due to illness". Newshub. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  20. "George Bennett: I've essentially had three ribs removed". Cyclingnews. 4 November 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  21. "Cycling: George Bennett claims best finish at Tour Down Under". Stuff.co.nz. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  22. "Cycling: Shane Archbold beats George Bennett to win road race national championship". Newshub. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  23. "George Bennett wins Gran Piemonte". cyclingnews. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  24. "New Zealand cyclist George Bennett in historic finish at Il Lombardia in Italy". stuff.co.nz. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  25. "Custom shoes for George Bennett and others by Caitlin Fielder". VeloNews.com. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
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