George Bennett: "It is important that we do not get stuck in a duel between Jumbo-Visma and UAE"

George Bennett will be one of the key lieutenants for Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France, after having switched from Jumbo-Visma into UAE Team Emirates. He predicts, as most, that both teams will clash for the victory in the Grand Boucle.

However, he is aware that the competition is fierce outside of both teams, and has talked about the dangers of specifically focusing on each other: "... It is important that we do not get stuck in a duel between Jumbo-Visma and UAE. It is dangerous for both teams. There are a lot of other good riders and teams. If we only look out for each other, we risk a lot," the Kiwi told Cyclingnews. "Of course we have to pay attention to Jumbo, and we will do that, but we also have to stick to our plan."

Whilst Jumbo will have Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard both eyeing the overall victory, UAE have Tadej Pogacar only. Hence the pressure to cover will be more on the defending champions. There is the possibility that Bennett is also saying this in an attempt to shift the pressure into his former team.

“I've seen everything. I was there when they dominated so much in 2020, I was one of the riders leading the way," he said of Jumbo-Visma. "We won everything except the Tour that year. That team is terribly good. Primoz and Jonas have reached a very high level," he concluded.

With the duo dominating the Critérium du Dauphiné, and with Pogacar dominating the Tour of Slovenia, none have shown any fragility in the run-up to the Tour. However the decisions are yet to be made, as there is still over a week until the start in Copenhagen.