The rider from New Zealand finished in seventh in the stage from Nantua to Chambéry behind winner Rigoberto Urán. Chris Froome kept the overall lead and Bennett moved to 10th place overall. 

“My instinct was to be in the breakaway,” Bennett said after the finish. “But I trusted in the tactics from Nico and Jan, to stay with the GC riders. In the end, it worked out like that."

“It is clear now that I am going to focus on the GC. Before, I was really in between. I also wanted to go stage hunting. I didn’t truly believe in riding for the GC before, but I do now. I am going full-throttle all the way to Paris.” 

Besides Gesink, Jos van Emden abandoned as well. It was a day of mixed emotions for Bennett. 

“I am happy with how I am and how I rode, but it is a big disappointment that for me that we lost Jos and Robert. I spent a month in a room in camps with Robert training for this. I know how hard he worked for this.” 

“We had the idea that George could move up in the top ten of the classification if he had the same form as he had in the Tour of California,” Sports Director Nico Verhoeven said. “Primoz tried to get the polka-dot jersey and go for the stage win, but that did not happen. He fought as a lion. He showed he’s in the good shape he was in before the Tour de France. That is something we can work with towards the other mountain stages." 

“We had a dramatic day with the abandons of Jos and Robert, but if you look at the results today, we did very well. Because of these results, our supporters can expect something from us during the rest of the Tour.” 

Robert Gesink was part of a crash on the Col de la Biche. The Dutchmen has to heal with a support wrapped around him. Jos van Emden pulled the plug with zero energy in his tanks after the spring classics and the Giro.