Five flattish stages to start the race were all won by
Jumbo-Visma, causing some critics to label the race 'boring'. “They don't have the funds to commit to closing the roads and lots of lots of these stages, Suffolk for example, put an amazing amount of resources in and you'd think you're on totally closed roads, but they're still rolling," defends Bennett. “Because the country is in a situation where, you know, local authorities are prioritising spending elsewhere, they're going to say, well, that's our priority and we fully understand that.”
A smaller race was also another point of concern with just 96 riders in the peloton at the start of the race. This problem at least, has a simple answer believes Bennett. “It's purely and simply Brexit,” he said. “Just to give you an example, it took some teams five hours that rode the World Champs to get their vehicles, technical teams through customs at Dover, and that was only three weeks ago. And they go, 'Hang on. You know what? It's not worth it'. So they didn't, but that's purely and simply down to Brexit.”