In the last 12-months, George Bennett made his debut at both the Tour de France and Olympics Games road race, and claimed a maiden victory at the Tour of California. Bennett also became the first Kiwi to finish top-ten overall at the Vuelta a Espana in September. An off-season bout of glandular fever slowed the 27-year-old`s start to 2017 but top tens at Abu Dhabi Tour and Volta Ciclista a Catalunya and 11th at Vuelta al Pais Vasco suggested he would be a rider to watch in California. He continued his most consistent start to a season by taking the overall victory and now the LottoNL-Jumbo rider is aiming to add to his growing list of recent achievements by winning a stage at the Tour de France, forgoing general classification ambitions. `We have the whole team going for stage wins,` Bennett told Cyclingnews of the team tactics for the Tour de France. `We have Dylan [Groenewegen] with the sprint train obviously targeting the sprint stages and then Primoz [Roglic] really going full gas for the time trials and the breakaway. And then Robert [Gesink] and myself essentially for the last two weeks and there are not heaps of opportunities for the Tour this year, so we are a going to have to be pretty sharp on the days that count.`ADVERTISEMENT Although Bennett`s debut Tour was ridden in service of Wilco Kelderman, he still managed to infiltrate several breakaways with seventh place at Andorra Arcalis on stage 9 his best result. In 2017, Bennett is targeting the second and third weeks of the race for results but is well aware of the reduced opportunities compared to 12-months prior. `I would love Chambery [stage 9] but I think so would everybody else,` he said when asked if there was a specific stage he has in mind. `Izoard [stage 18] , maybe Foix [stage 13] on the really short intense stage. Any of those Alpine or Pyrenees stages really. There are actually only a few opportunities. I think we have stages 12 and 13, eight and nine, and then a couple in the last fe ...
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