Twitter
Facebook
RSS Feed
Google+
RECENT ARTICLES
Sam Bewley is back in the pro-tour May 22nd, 12. Sam Bewley will line up to race as Orica GreenEdge's newest member tomorrow. ... read more |
Giro rest day calm for Ivan Basso May 22nd, 12. He sits 3rd on the General Classification with a week of racing ... read more |
Junior Kiwi continues winning streak May 22nd, 12. 19 year old Kiwi Hayden McCormick is racing in Belgium as preparation for ... read more |
George Bennett wins in France |
|
Bennett in yellow
The three stage Tour de la Drome, including climbs in the French Alps and known for its hard crosswinds, was the focus of the month. It is one of the premier Category 2 races in Southern France. After fighting crosswinds and attacks on the long climbs in the alps, Bennett won the overall General Classification. Fellow kiwi and teammate Wade Mangham won the final stage after assisting Bennett in the winning breakaway. The race was tightly fought with attacks occurring on all the climbs. During Stage 1 Bennett attacked on the first major climb only to be caught by the main contenders, but he held on to finish in 3rd place. "I attacked with about 3km to the top, two other riders came across to me. I was gutted to see that the numbers of the two riders had both been written on my handle bars to watch out for," said Bennett. Stage 2 was an 11km Time Trial with Bennett having to borrow a time trial bike for the stage. The warmup was his first ride on his borrowed bike, but he managed a solid 5th position, putting him in 4th place overall, 16 seconds behind the yellow jersey holder.
Wade Mangham takes the stage win
"I tried a few early moves but always had riders from the leaders team reacting every time I even thought about attacking," he said. Eventually Mangham got away from the peloton with another rider and managed to build a lead of 20 seconds. Behind in the peloton, at the final climb with 20km to go, Bennett started a relentless attacking spree until he managed to drop the yellow jersey holder. "We went maybe 10 times, always covered by the yellow jeresy but kept riding hard and eventually he dropped," said Bennett.
When Bennett caught Mangham the two kiwis worked hard together to the finish line with Mangham taking the sprint for the stage win, and Bennett the yellow jersey for the tour.
Second winThe Tour de la Drome win was the second win for Bennett in August.
Photos and quotes used with permission www.georgebennettcycling.
|
Aug 15th, 09. Kiwis continue to shine on the European road race scene with George Bennett winning the overall title, and Wade Mangham a stage, in the Tour de la Drome in France this week.