George Bennett escaped again in the Tour de France today through the Jura Mountains, but could not match the pace of Jarlinson Pantano (IAM) and Rafael Majka (Tinkoff). Pantano won the day, but at least Bennett made the right move.

 “Shortly after the start, I felt good in the battle for the leading group,” Bennett said. “After 100 kilometres, though, it began to hurt. My body did not feel good and I felt very tired. I am very disappointed that I could not follow those men. Maybe it also had to do with my crash in the 11th stage, but that doesn’t make it less disappointing."

 "I have respect for what he showed us today because when the peloton broke on the climb, the best 30 cyclists moved free,” Sports Director Merijn Zeeman added.

"We designated two riders for the break. Kelderman tried it and exploded afterwards, Bennett managed though.”

“On the first category climb, we saw that Bennett could not follow the best 12 riders and was empty.”

Dylan Groenewegen makes time cut

Another goal was to have Dylan Groenewegen finish within the time limit. "We are lucky he succeeded. It was even more exciting when he got stuck behind the gruppetto, but thanks to Vanmarcke, he was able to return and finish in the group with the other sprinters,” added Zeeman. "Groenewegen was completely empty. I have great respect for his perseverance.”

“I waited for him,” Vanmarcke added. “I paced him on my rear wheel and on the next descent, we almost managed to return. Eventually, we made contact with the group with Cavendish and rode to the finish."

"Today was one of the toughest days and I'm glad I survived,” said Groenewegen. “At one point, I thought it really was over, but Vanmarcke waited and encouraged me."

Tomorrow

The finish in to Bern, Switzerland, tomorrow is not guaranteed to end in a sprint. "It depends on what the sprinters’ teams want,” Zeeman added. “But if there is a leading group on road, we have to be there."