George Bennett finds 'selfish gene again' as GC leader with Israel-Premier Tech

George Bennett motions to join him as he sat on a closed portable cooler at the Tour Down Under.

The WorldTour opener allows for such casual encounters, with white team vans replacing the custom coaches which riders use for travel across Europe. In South Australia, they stay in the van, perch on an 'esky' or in a camper chair at every stage start and finish, where the sun is hot, and shade is sparse.

Bennett looks more tanned than usual but perhaps it’s because of his new kit. Having spent almost a decade riding for what is now the two biggest teams in the WorldTour – Visma-Lease a Bike and then UAE Team Emirates – the New Zealand climber transferred to Israel-Premier Tech for the 2024 season, his old white kit now a sky-blue hue.

New year, new Bennett? "I hope so," he says, before quickly correcting himself.

"No, no, no, no. Hopefully new team, old George from, you know, a few years [ago]," Bennet motions with his arms.

The 33-year-old has struggled with illness and injury setbacks the past couple of years but appears fresh and enthusiastic days into his new campaign with the team that is positioning itself to win stages at Grand Tours this year. 

Bennett has spent almost a decade riding for three men now synonymous with those - Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič – but this year is switching focus. At the Tour Down Under, he's backing teammates, but come the European spring, as well as the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, Bennett will be afforded opportunities.

"I'll get a chance to go for Grand Tour stage wins, and all that freedom, that was also a massive factor [in signing]," he says. "I had some other offers on the table that I didn't take partly because they were going to be again in a role of being a domestique.

"I like that, that's given me a lot of joy over the years, and I've grown to love that role. It's quite hard to switch out of that, to get that selfish gene back that you want to go in and attack and go for yourself."

It begs the question if Bennett has spent the pre-season working on how to be selfish.

"Yeah, I mean my mantra, every morning, look after number one," he jokes.

Ahead of the final two stages of the Tour Down Under, in which the general classification will be decided, that's certainly not true. Bennett talks about his teammates in the battle for the ochre jersey, several of whom are well-placed for it on the overall standings. Corbin Strong is third, two seconds off the lead of UAE Emirates neo-pro Isaac Del Toro before Saturday's run to Willunga Hill. Stephen Williams is not far off the pace in fifth place – seven seconds adrift of the Mexican. Bennett and Derek Gee are in a larger group all 11 seconds in arrears of the current leader.

However, the opportunity to once again ride for himself has served as additional motivation.

"It gets you out of bed in the morning," Bennett says. "Ultimately when you start being a bike rider, you don't get on a bike and dream about helping a bloke. You get on a bike and dream about winning races. But it is a really nice thing to help someone as well if you're in a cool team environment. If you don't like your teammates, it doesn't give you much, but if their teammates and their friends you can create this vibe of us against them. It's special. When your team wins, you feel like you win."

Bennett is as approachable as ever, appearing relaxed in South Australia, where one of his best mates, former racer turned sports director Sam Bewley is guiding the team alongside Daryl Impey, who won the Tour Down Under twice, in 2018 and 2019.

Israel-Premier Tech is a pluckier squad compared to Bennett's previous stables, each with their own, distinct culture, but he is on board.

"Early Jumbo [Visma-Lease a Bike] had elements of where we are now, going backs against the wall, we're down and out, we're on the way up, so that's really nice," Bennett says.

"Then Jumbo got to this really high-performance mode but as a non-Dutch speaker maybe I missed a little bit of that camaraderie. I had good mates in the team, don't get me wrong, they were good guys, but I missed a little bit of that.

"UAE I had great mates on the bike but I didn't have, it was not what I was used to at Jumbo in terms of structure or my roles or my planning. I didn't have time to prepare for races and things like that," Bennett continues.

"There was structure, but it was different for me. It was a good team, I don't want to rag on it, but it didn't work for me, say it that way. Really great guys off the bike, I had a lot of fun with them, but I wasn't in an environment I felt I could really perform in."

So far, Israel-Premier Tech has offered those elements Bennett felt were missing from his two previous stables – camaraderie at one and structure at the other.

"They're turning over every stone to make sure we're doing all the things you need to be, to be on the level of a top team, and really happy with all the resources and things available to me here," he says. "I've struck a good balance so far of having the science and the performance side, which is really important to me. 

"All I want in life is to be a good cyclist at the moment," Bennett continues. "And with that nice combination, I mean, look at the boys here, we're seven Commonwealth guys, directors Bewls and Daz, they're my two mates I hang out with."

The vibe is genuine too.

Bewley is quick - as those from the Commonwealth would say – to take the piss out of his friend when asked about that mindset switch from selfless domestique to selfish contender.

"Oh no he's a selfish man!" Bewley quips.

Camaraderie is something Bennett believes can make a "massive" difference to performance and is perhaps partly responsible for Israel-Premier Tech's showing at the Tour Down Under so far, the team has openly contested for time bonuses at intermediate primes across the opening four, largely flat, stages.

"I think about [stage 1], what you're hearing over the radio, you're fired up, as opposed to just delivering information," Bennett says. "You know, you can deliver information in two ways; one can get you chicken-skin motivated to try and smash everybody, or the other one is sort of just, OK, knowing when we're turning left."

The two parties stand to profit from each other this season, with Bewley also acknowledging what Bennett brings to the table.

"He's a bit older now and as you get older, the sport has evolved so quickly, especially coming out of COVID," he says.

"I was still racing then as well but we basically stepped into a peloton that was completely foreign to everyone; it was so much faster, the style of racing so different and obviously he spent a lot of years working with Roglič and those guys at Jumbo, and then with Pogačar at UAE, trying to win yellow jerseys and working for those guys.

"But now, the way the racing has changed so much, it's hard for a lot of teams to focus on GC unless you have Pogačar or Vingegaard or Roglič. So, for a team like us, it's about taking opportunities in Grand Tours, and trying to win stages in Grand Tours. And George is at that point now in his career where he's so experienced, he knows how to race those races, and he deserves a chance to try and win some of those stages as well. That's why he's here."