With the Tour de France just two weeks away, Il Lombardia in the summer offered George Bennett a chance to take a shot at his favorite classic of the season, and in particular a fascinating battle with Remco Evenpole.

Bennett still has the humility of a hard-working mountain domestique, but Wednesday's win at Gran Piemonte and Jumbo Visma's newfound strength as a team will make this Kiwi the key to Saturday's race finale on the Civiglio climb, with Evenpoel suggesting that he is likely to be one of the few riders who can go with or even drop Evenpoel on the key Civiglio climb in Saturday's finale.

"He seems to be living up to his reputation so far: Il Lombardia will be a cool battle with Evenpoel. I'm looking forward to it. Il Lombardia will be a cool battle with Evenpoel.

"It's a great opportunity for me. With a team as talented as ours, you don't take chances. I am optimistic. Of course, there are a lot of good players in the race, but there is no reason why we can't come out on top."

Bennett has too much respect for his fellow competitors to believe that Lombardia will be a simple battle between him and Evenpoel. He has competed in the Italian Monument five times and knows it will be a battle of attrition with long climbs and testing descents.

"There are a lot of good riders here. Vincenzo Nibali and last year's winner Bauke Mollema are among them.

"I'm optimistic, but after 200 km of racing, when you get to the foot of the Civiglio, it's a whole different story.

Bennett showed his winning credentials in Gran Piemonte. He attacked on the final climb, dropped his rivals, and rode away to win in the rain. Ulissi made a late push, but Bennett dug deep and found the speed to reach the finish line.

The same was true for Lombardia, where the strongest rider on the Civiglio climb, 17 km from the finish, could be in contention for the win.

"It's different from Gran Piemonte, and theoretically more difficult.

"Lombardia is my favorite race of the year. I'm looking forward to spending a week with my girlfriend near Lake Como at the end of the season. The peak is coming up and it's nice to get some advanced practice in before that."

Most of the Jumbo-Visma Tour de France contingent, including team leaders Primoz Roglic, Tom Dumoulin, and Steven Kruijswijk, will compete in the Criterium du Dauphiné. However, Bennett, who returned to racing in the Vuelta a Burgos and the Tour de Ain, felt that the two Italian classics were better race options for him, while also giving him a rare opportunity to challenge for victory.

"When I moved from the Giro to the Tour team, I was only supposed to do Burgos and Ain and then train at home. But when I came up with the idea of having a personal goal in Italy this week, the team agreed and trusted me," he explained.

"It was a risk to go to the Dauphiné, and I'm glad I came to Italy, even though my workload was reduced by having to do two one-day races in seven days. I'm glad I came to Italy.

"Whatever happens at Il Lombardia, I'm happy. I'm going back to Andorra on Sunday to do a week of long rides in high altitude before the Tour de France. The goal is to bring the top end down a bit and then bring it back up again. I may pay the price in the first week of the Tour, but my goal, and the important days for the team, are the mountain races in weeks two and three. A result in Lombardy would be perfect.