Vuelta a Espana: Unconventional approach for George Bennett
(Cyclingnews.com)

George Bennett`s preparation for the Vuelta a Espana has been less than ideal having spent more time at the pre-race training camp in bed than on his bike, he will start `nothing to lose` on Saturday. LottoNL-Jumbo`s Kiwi was forced out of the Tour de France on stage 16 with illness when sitting 12th overall and has struggled to regain full health since. `I had more or less two weeks completely off the bike. I did a couple of one-hour rides. I was meant to for a bit longer but just kept having to go home. Finally a few days before San Sebastián I started to lose the symptoms and was excited to race,` Bennett told Cyclingnews. `I went there with my girlfriend and tried to make a weekend of it. I actually raced surprisingly well. Ok, I wasn`t good but I was still there and was 30-something and could attack in the finale and was active in the race. It is a nice race but in the race, I still felt like I kept on yawning. Which was quite strange. I came home and rode to Andorra a few days later to start a week training camp.`ADVERTISEMENT While a training camp pre-Tour went to plan for Bennett and LottoNL-Jumbo, it was a different story when preparing for the Vuelta as he described. `The next day, I felt completely crook again and instead of a virus, this time I had a throat infection. I went on antibiotics and spent the training camp in bed,` he said. `I managed to string a couple of rides together and did maybe three big, big rides and the rest of the time was just trying to recover. Then I came back to Girona and have basically been off the bike and done a few short sessions over the weekend and have not built up for the Vuelta in any shape or form. It is an interesting approach to the Vuelta. Normally I go to training camps in the mountains and this time I have been laying in bed so this time so we`ll see how this works out for me.` 2016 was a breakthrough year for Bennett in which he made his Tour and Olympic Games debut and finished tenth overall at the Vue ...