George Bennett knows where the Pogačar monster was born: ‘The Granon woke up the beast’

Bennett was left out of Jumbo-Visma’s Tour de France squad in 2021, which helped prompt his move to UAE Team Emirates. A year later, he did make the selection, but his race ended on stage 10. One day later, team leader Pogačar suffered what proved to be a decisive blow on the Col du Granon, where Jonas Vingegaard launched the attack that turned the 2022 Tour de France on its head.

“I think that moment was crucial for his career,” Bennett told Marca. “Back then, he already had huge talent, but he didn’t work as hard as others. Now he is completely focused: he trains incredibly hard, he has changed his diet... He has the greatest talent in the world and a very strong mentality. He is unstoppable.”

That does not mean Pogačar was not dedicated as a young rider. Quite the opposite, Bennett explained. “He is simply so talented that he didn’t need to pay as much attention to himself as others did. Everything he has achieved is the result of hard work, and he understood the importance of the small details. After that lost Tour, that was the moment he really changed. When you combine talent and hard work, the result is unstoppable.”

In Paris, the final margin that year was 2:43, while Pogačar lost 2:51 on the Granon alone. He was beaten by Vingegaard again the following year, but Bennett is convinced the change had already begun in 2022. “The Granon woke up the beast,” said the New Zealand national champion.

After two seasons with UAE Team Emirates, Bennett moved to Israel-Premier Tech, now racing under the NSN Cycling name. There, he found himself alongside another major champion in Chris Froome. Bennett sees clear differences between the two stars, who between them have won the Tour de France eight times. “Pogačar really enjoys cycling,” Bennett said. “Froome does too, but he comes from a different school — the INEOS or Sky model — where the whole team was built around him much more.”

Froome was hit by a car during training last year and was left badly battered. Since then, he has been without a team, and his future remains uncertain. “I don’t know if he is still racing, because it seems like he is focusing more on skiing now. I’ve heard rumours about another team, but that would probably be too late for this season. With him, you never know — maybe he will even switch to another sport.”