Despite climbing into the top 10 of the Giro d'Italia on Friday morning (NZT), Kiwi George Bennett is furious at himself, saying he "rode like a f...ing idiot".
Bennett crossed the line in fourth place on the first mountain stage of the tour, promoting him into ninth place on the overall general classification.
The LottoNL-Jumbo finished the 163km stage 26 seconds behind stage winner Esteban Chaves and Britain's Simon Yates, who has taken over the leader's pink jersey.
He headed into the stage trailing the leaders by 56 seconds, but now the 27-year-old is Bennett one minute and 11 seconds behind Yates in the general classification, and still one spot behind Tour de France champion Chris Froome.
"I rode like a f...ing idiot," Bennett said. "I attacked too much, I was too confident.
"When Yates went, I had to go, but I had already gone three times.
"I'm quite disappointed in myself. It was just me and [Domenico] Pozzovivo attacking, and we were stronger than them. Well, maybe they were just smarter.
"Yatesy and Chavez deserved to win."
The Giro heads to the Italian mainland for Saturday's seventh stage - a flat 159km route from Pizzo to Praia a Mare.
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