CYCLIST George Bennett's exchange with a little boy as he struggled up a hill during the Vuelta a España has gone viral on social media – the Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider gave the child an experience he will never forget.
The boy, a local Spaniard, entered the track and began cheering George on, and the cyclist made gestures to the child to follow him.
His parents, watching, saw what was happening and told their son to run along, which he did.
Once he had climbed the hill, George gave his little fan his water bottle as a souvenir – given that he was not in a position to sign an autograph.
The little boy's mum, Inés Moreno, videoed the entire moment and uploaded her footage onto her Twitter account (@Inesuki601), writing: “You cannot imagine how excited he made him feel – many thanks, George Bennett. That was a lovely thing to do. You can tell a great cyclist from gestures like these.”
In the end, the Vuelta was won by Simon Yates – a fitting result for the Brit after his Giro d'Italia disappointment which saw him running out of steam only two rides before the finish after having been in the lead for 13 days and winning three stages.
The Team Mitchelton-Scott rider is the third UK national this year to win a European Grand Tour after Wales' Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) scooped up the Tour de France, his first title at this level, having always been in the shadow of colleague and compatriot Chris Froome, who won the Tour de France.
Yates said he had grown up watching Spanish, French and Italian cyclists win the Grand Tours, and is stunned and delight with Britain's two-wheeled 2018 hat-trick.
But he says he still has 'unfinished business' with the Giro and is looking forward to going back to Italy in summer 2019.
British Cycling tweeted Yates' victory earlier this week with the three flags in order of the Grand Tour calendar – Italy, France and Spain – and the caption: “Uno, deux, tres.”
Photograph 1 by Inés Moreno on Twitter; photograph 2 by Team GB
