Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s difficult week in the Basque Country came to an end on Saturday with a nasty 18km mountain time trial. Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) won the final stage. Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha secured the overall victory on the last day.

“It’s been a tough tour for us, without Robert Gesink and Paul Martens,”  Sports Director Frans Maassen said, looking back.

“For Mike Teunissen, the race actually came too early, he had to quit early on, and we had to start with eight men. Brian Bulgac crashed out later on, which was too bad, but fortunately some men were able to improve their level. Unfortunately, it came without bagging any nice results.”

George Bennett came to the Basque Country secretly hoping to do well in the overall. The New Zealander knew in advance that is was going to be a difficult task, however. Because of a knee injury and illness, he was forced to take a ten-day rest. On Saturday, his tank ran a bit empty.

“It was not that good for me today, to be honest,” Bennett said. “It was a good way to finish the week, though. The past couple of days have been pretty intense, there haven’t been any easy days to recover. This week was a good opportunity to get back, but it has taken its toll.”

Bennett hopes his efforts will be rewarded. “I hope to get back on track, on where I was before my injury. My knee feels very good. Now, I’m off for a couple of weeks of altitude training.”