George Bennett shares his experience racing with cycling stars: "The four best riders in the world aren't the four hardest working riders in the world"
CyclingSunday, 18 February 2024 at 10:39
Having raced for Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates, alongside riders like Wout Van Aert, Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar, George Bennett had a first-hand experience of what is it like racing with world's best riders. Speaking to Rouleur, Bennett talks about talent and hard work in professional cycling.
"People always like to give this romantic mystique to riders that are really genetically talented. They say that, this guy, mentally he's a fortress or something like that. It's a myth. It's genetics," Bennett says, confidently.
"It's who's got a massive engine. You could find a rider who works harder than these guys and he’s still not going to be as good. I know some of these GC guys really well and I've had to sit at the table with them and make sure they finish their breakfast because they're so nervous before a race, then they go and become Tour de France champions. You can’t tell me they’re mentally unbreakable, they’re not."
"They’ve just got unreal genetics. Biology is on their side and that is a real lottery. People want them to be Gods, doing 40 hours a week in the rain. I'm not saying they don't work hard but it's not that the four best riders in the world are the four hardest working riders in the world."
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- Wout is an absolute warrior. Trek bossed them all. And JV was nowhere. That being said Id love to see wout winning he’s such a good guy. The giro is long so here’s hoping. I don’t like this article that he should be happy with 2ndmij10-05-2025
- Ineos pretend Thymen's loss is not a big deal, but I don't think this is a good sign. I hope Bernal is fit, would be good for him to have another shot at normal life.Ride197410-05-2025
- To finish second to Mads Petersen in a photo finish, after such a chaotic first stage where Lidl-Trek controlled the race to perfection, while the Visma team was conspicuouly absent, is nothing to be ashamed about. During the interview, Wout was visibly spent, more so than Mads.. but I felt he was more a victor than a loser, given the circumstances. I'm excited to see what Wout will do in this Giro.FredMan10-05-2025
- I feel for Spain. Landa was one of their only two realistic GC hopes.Ride197410-05-2025
- Since the TT has a lot of sharp turns, does that perhaps play in Mads' favor, since he can sprint out of corners faster than many?Ride197410-05-2025
- The point of the article is well taken. Don’t judge a riders grand tour results after one stage. But he is slowly becoming a regular second.mij10-05-2025
- I’m disagreeing with the headline and tone of the article. I don’t even see Wout quoted. And he doesn’t offer excuses. My comment stands. He has no wins in his cobbled monuments. And is second too many times. And shouldn’t accept these results.mij10-05-2025
- Hey, Wout is one of the least excuse seeking riders out there, read the article again and let’s wait and see over the 3 weeks. Also a bad sign if you’re willing to give up on him faster than himself.Mistermaumau09-05-2025
- No more than Primoz at the TdFMistermaumau09-05-2025
- Sorry but Iagree more with the article at this point of the season. Had Mads not had a perfect lead-out it would have been a done deal already.Mistermaumau09-05-2025
Very refreshing comments by Bennett! When I was racing I trained with a few friends who seemed to never have to push on the pedals as hard as I did, lol. We would go on the same rides and yet they progressed a lot faster than me. Genetics really do make up a large part of the game.
Most problems with progress are due to pushing too hard too much. Another reason some people progress better is because they train better, not harder.
There is a lot of truth to that- our recovery rates are different. However, training is a very complex arena and relies heavily on genetics. I hit 1700+ watts in a sprint- my two friends had trouble with 1200+. That is pure genetics.
It’s not only recovery rates, it’s also what you do between hard rides.
I don’t have the time to ride much or seriously so during the week I ride symbolically, an hour or so once or twice pretty much fast. Long hard weekend rides in groups are much harder for me than the guys who have time to do slow long rides instead of my quick hour to have some regularity. They have pretty predictable form, mine is up and downall over the place.
Just looking at Remco’s figures from his ride with MVDP today, even I am impressed by how slow they rode, averaging about what I do. The difference is come race time, they can up the pace by 10km/h, I’m happy to reach 5. I guess that’s the difference between amateur and pro recovery :-)
The ones who are desperate to succeed in the lower levels would probably be the hardest working but also the most susceptible to over training. today's training is already taken over by the specialist staff. So it makes no sense to train hard but to train smart according to what the body allows
Honestly fair enough, all pro cyclists work so incredibly hard but it's so easy to forget that it's a team sport. The best riders are nothing without their teams support.