George Bennett: 'The Granon woke up the beast' as Pogacar raised his level after Tour defeat

“I was there when we lost the Tour de France on the Col du Granon,” Bennett told MARCA, referring to his time as a teammate of Tadej Pogačar at UAE Team Emirates in 2022 and 2023. Pogačar had already shown his class before that stage, but Bennett believes the real shift came afterwards.

“He already had huge talent, but he didn’t work as hard as others. Now he is completely focused. He trains a lot, he has changed his diet. He has the greatest talent in the world and a very strong mentality. He is unstoppable.”

The conclusion follows naturally. “The Granon woke up the beast.”

Bennett places that moment alongside a broader shift in the peloton, where preparation and detail have become decisive. His view also aligns with recent comments from Domen Novak, another teammate of Tadej Pogačar, who suggested the Slovenian initially relied far more on raw talent.

“As far as I know Tadej, at that age he was not even going to altitude camps yet. He was racing for the team Gusto Ljubljana. You could say he won his first Tour while eating pizza, drinking beer and playing PlayStation.”

At the same time, Bennett himself has been part of a team going through a full reset. “Yes, completely renewed. I think we are at the beginning of something very special,” he said. “We have a good structure and very strong riders: young talents with great potential and others like Girmay who can already win now.”

That reset also meant cutting ties with the past. “It has nothing to do with that anymore,” Bennett said, referring to the team’s previous Israeli roots. “Last year was very complicated, you saw what happened at La Vuelta. Having to compete while dealing with external factors is not pleasant.”

The changes were not optional. “The changes were made because the situation was not sustainable. Now we race with more freedom.” 

His words echo those of Nick Schultz, who spoke in similar terms about the team dynamic in the Domestique Hotseat.

While Pogačar continues to set the standard, the future of another champion is less clear. Asked about Chris Froome, Bennett admitted he does not have a full picture of the former Tour winner’s current situation.

“I don’t know if he is still racing, because it seems he is more focused on skiing now,” he said. There have been rumours about a possible move, but nothing concrete. “With him, you never know. He could even switch sports.”