George Bennett moved into the top 20 overall of the Santos Tour Down Under on Thursday’s third stage. Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s New Zealander placed 15th on the tricky arrival in Paracombe, but lost time to the new race leader.
 
BMC’s Rohan Dennis won the stage, claimed the ocre leader’s jersey and with bonus seconds, took a 28-second lead.
 
“It’s a shame. I wanted to do better,” Bennett said after the 143-kilometre stage. “I went too deep after the start of the final climb and quickly found myself in my red zone. With 400 metres to go, I lost contact. That was a bummer.”
 
‘Perfect team-work’
“My team-mates’ help was perfect. Thanks to them I was able to save energy all day long. Despite the tight corners and narrow roads, they helped me start the final climb in sixth position, which was perfect and crucial. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
 
Willunga Hill
“Today wasn’t really my climb. This was three minutes of sprinting. I like to climb a little longer. Saturday’s Willunga Hill suits me better. Hopefully, I can move towards the top ten.”

Lindeman ‘not good enough’
Bert-Jan Lindeman finished 42nd on the ‘mur’ of Paracombe and lost 50 seconds on Dennis. Nevertheless, the 25-year-old Dutchman moved up from 42nd to 33rd overall. The gap with Dennis is exactly one minute.
 
Sports Director Frans Maassen explained, “Bert-Jan was just not good enough today.”
 
Nervous day
Maassen expects hard days ahead. Tomorrow should be a nervous day, when the peloton heads from Glenelg to Mt Barker.
 
“Normally, there’s a lot of wind in this region. Besides that, the final twenty kilometres hold opportunities to drop the sprinters. A break definitely has a chance,” Maassen said.
 
“Bert-Jan, however, is in a quandary like many other riders. They are too far behind to do a good overall, but they’re too close to get space for an attack. On the other hand, there are so many riders in that position that many things are possible.”