Kiwi cyclist George Bennett has become the fourth New Zealander to be part of a stage-winning team in the Tour de France after they claimed the second stage this morning.
Team Jumbo-Visma won the team time trial over Team Ineos by 20 seconds after racing along the 27.6km course.
Bennett is one of five cyclists part of the Dutch squad. They built a comfortable 11 second lead by the first checkpoint 13.2km into the race but extended that lead by three seconds seven kilometres later before a late push gave them the impressive final margin.
The Kiwi's teammates were surprised by his strength throughout the race and ability to keep up despite not being a time trial specialist.
"We had a tactic to do it without George because he's just too small," teammate and overall leader Mike Teunissen said after the race.
"But in the end, he felt really good and could help us. The other guys were really strong, really long pulls. All the little kickers were really hard, but everyone kept their pace."
The victory sees Bennett join Patrick Bevin (2018), Julian Dean (2011) and Chris Jenner (2001) as the only Kiwis to win a team time trial in the prestigious event.
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