George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) broke away from the peloton to earn a one-second time bonus on the second stage, signaling his intent to contend for the overall win in the Tour Down Under.

In the process, the New Zealander overshadowed defending champion Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) and favorites Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) and Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos), the dark horse of the year. (Team Ineos) proved to be the dark horse of the year.

Bennett has run the Tour Down Under every year since 2013, with the exception of 2017, challenging his Australian rivals in the southern hemisphere sun from his winter home of New Zealand.

Now 29 years old, his stage race results, including an overall win at the 2017 Tour of California, have proven his talent and guaranteed him a protected status in Jumbo-Visma, Bennett leads the Dutch team in the Tour Down Under.

"I'm always so close, and every year the first uphill finish is good, but then I screw up big time on Willunga Hill," Bennett told Cycling News as the first crucial uphill finish to Paracombe on stage 3 approached.

"I was the leader on Corkscrew Hill last year, but Willunga Hill is always a problem. We need to work on that and then I think we can be competitive. Paracombe takes three minutes and Willunga Hill takes seven minutes. That doesn't work for me. But I have a good team around me, so let's see what we can do."

Jumbo Visma confirmed that Bennett will lead the Dutch WorldTour team in the Giro d'Italia as Tom Dumoulin, Primos Roglic, and Steven Kruijswijk focus on challenging Team Ineos in the Tour de France. Bennett also has the hilly Tokyo Olympics road race in his sights, so he will have to carefully build up his early season form to be at his best in May and early July.

"We are taking a slightly different approach this year. We have to time our preparations for the Giro d'Italia. [If we were to do something like the Aussie riders, working 30-hour days, it would be difficult to make it in time for June. But that doesn't mean it won't work here. We don't put as much emphasis on it as the Aussie players do, but a 20-hour workweek will work just fine."

The Tour Down Under is often decided by time bonuses, but the addition of the Paracombe uphill finish, cooler temperatures, and the risk of strong winds later in the week have changed the expectations of many, including Bennett.

"I think it will be a harder race because of the route, but more so because we have a good field," Bennett said.

"Look at Mitchelton Scott's team. They have Daryl Impey, Simon Yates, and Lucas Hamilton. They have Daryl Impey, Simon Yates, and Lucas Hamilton. They have Nathan Haas, who moved to Cofidis, and Jay McCarthy of Beulah Hansgrohe, who is always in this race. [But that's the way January is. There are probably 20 people in the race for the win, 10 good and 10 bad. That makes the race frustrating, but it's also fun in another way."