In his 15th year as a professional, 35-year-old George Bennett (NSN Cycling) claimed a second career victory in the New Zealand national road race championships on Saturday, soloing to victory to cap off his season start in style.
Bennett, who also won this title in 2021, was part of a small group that emerged in the middle of the 188km race, set on 20 laps near Cambridge, and then attacked on his own to go solo for the final three laps and take the win.
He crossed the line 41 seconds ahead of silver medallist Josh Burnett (Burgos Burpellet BH) with domestic rider Matthew Wilson claiming third a few seconds further back.
Bennett will pull on the black and white fern jersey as he returns to Europe to start his third season with NSN Cycling. The 35-year-old hasn't taken a road win since he last claimed the national title, and was emotional at the finish on Saturday.
"This win means a lot. I have had a really rough 18 months so this means the world. To finally win a race again – with my friends, my family, my teammates and Bewls [NSN sports director Sam Bewley] all here," he said.
"I am really proud to win this and take the jersey back to wear on the WorldTour. My big target is the Tour de France this year so to be able to wear the jersey in something like that would be special. It hasn’t sunk in yet. It’s awesome."
With long-time friend and DS Sam Bewley directing, Bennett rode an attacking race to claim that long-awaited win.
"I think I rode a really smart race. I picked the initial move and we rode well. It was a strong group with some really under-rated guys. We just stayed really smart," he said.
"I got the call from Bewls to open up the race early and went with 30kms to go. It is always a race within a race when you go early like that and I just had really good legs.
"Most of the time that move doesn’t work but at least next time it doesn’t work out, I can remember this one."
Though a WorldTour rider won the race, the top 10 was dominated by domestic and Continental riders, with Lotto Intermarché's Reuben Thompson the only other WorldTour rider who made it into the top 10. Gravel rider Cameron Jones finished 9th.
For the other WorldTour riders on the start line, it was a day to forget after missing the move that would go on to win. Bennett's teammate Corbin Strong finished 15th, over four minutes down, whilst TT champion Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) rolled in in 18th.
Bennett will likely debut his national champion's jersey at the Volta a Catalunya in March, which is currently set as his European season opener.
