Bennett, who was second in the general classification at the start of the final stage, was well protected by his teammates from Team Jumbo-Visma until the foot of the final climb. Sepp Kuss assisted him from there on and increased the pace several times to put pressure on the competitors, but Bennett couldn’t follow. He eventually crossed the line together with Kuss at one minute and a half behind stage winner Ivan Sosa.

“I just didn’t have the legs on the final climb”, Bennett said. “It was a hard day for me. I have to compliment the team, because they did an amazing job today. I tried to follow my competitors on the final climb, but perhaps by continuing to try my legs exploded. After that it was mainly a matter of damage control. Luckily Sepp was still with me. He definitely saved my top five. Fifth is not bad, of course, but after my second place the day before yesterday I had hoped for more.”

“George just didn’t have the legs to follow on the steepest part of the climb”, sports director Arthur van Dongen explained. “He felt pretty good until the final climb. The team worked hard and was very strong. They put George in a good position for the climb. Sepp then went all out on the climb and limited the time loss as much as possible.”

Looking back at the past week, Van Dongen is pretty satisfied. “We were unfortunate with losing Gijs on the first day and Timo’s two punctures at crucial moments. Nevertheless, the team has done well all week. The riders reached a good level. It’s just a bit of a pity that both Sepp and George had a bad day because I think there was more for us in store. Overall, it was a great week and we can build on that towards the upcoming races.”