The stars have aligned for George Bennett to race this year’s New Zealand Cycle Classic – a huge boost for the country’s premier road race.
Bennett is racing in the Classic for the New Zealand national team.
“I always feel really welcome coming back here and racing and obviously this event was a good stepping-stone for me 10, 11 years ago,” Bennett says.
The Kiwi’s career is set for an exciting new chapter in 2022. After seven years on tour with the Jumbo-Visma team, Bennett now rides for UAE Team Emirates.
The Classic will be his first race since switching teams.
Among Bennett’s new UAE Team Emirates teammates is current Tour De France champion Tadej Pogacar.
“He’s unreal this guy. Playing a different sport to the rest of us,” Bennett says of Pogacar.
The change of team also brings with it a change of pre-season priorities.
“There’s new priorities in my season let’s say. We’ve got some pretty important goals early on in UAE, and that’s obviously a huge race for us," Bennett says of the UAE Tour which starts in late February.
The New Zealand Cycle Classic is being held in Wairarapa and Wellington from Wednesday until Sunday.
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