George Bennett is New Zealand’s new road champion

George Bennett is New Zealand’s new road champion

Sunday February 14th, 2021 at 08:13 AM

In the New Zealand Time Trial Championship he still had to settle for a silver medal, but in the road race it was a success for George Bennett. Jumbo-Visma rider won by a big lead over Mark Stewart and Michael Torckler.

The runners were treated to a 174.4 kilometer race with a start and finish in Cambridge. Bennett was very active along the way and eventually turned out to have the best legs. The 30-year-old Jumbo-Visma climber, who had never before been crowned New Zealand road champion, managed to shake off a solid solo.

On the line, the difference between Bennett and his early pursuers turned out to be almost two minutes. It is therefore his first road title for the brand new champion, having already collected a silver medal in 2013 and 2020. Remarkably, a Briton managed to conquer the silver medal, with Stewart of Scotland .

It turns out that Stewart has been in New Zealand for almost a year. The Ribble Weldtite rider decided to visit his girlfriend and New Zealand cyclist Emma Cumming in March, but was unable to return to Europe due to the lockdown in New Zealand. Stewart apparently got a waiver to compete in the New Zealand Championship.