It has been a long and difficult season for George Bennett.

Bennett, a member of UAE Team Emirates, is currently taking on the Tour de Langkawi, the last race of 2022, with a total of eight stages. Bennett will be one of the favourites for the important Genting Highlands stage.

"Tomorrow will definitely be the best stage of the race," Bennett told Cycling News before the start of the second stage in Kuala Krawang. Bennett told Cycling News before the start of the second stage in Kuala Krawang, "It's going to be a great day.

The Genting Highlands has a history of influencing overall victories in the long-running Malaysian event, and Bennett has the support of a team whose only GC leader was Rui Costa after he left the race on stage 1 due to illness.

Still, Thursday's 123.7-km third stage will feature two second-class climbs near the start followed by two more to the finish line in the Genting Highlands.

"I'm actually not feeling well," Bennett said. I've been tired all week. The second half of the year, I've been on the road a lot, unbelievably."

"I've been on the road a lot," he said.

"When I got COVID at the Tour [before stage 10], I had a month off in the spring because I was sick, so I didn't have many race days. [Vuelta a Castilla y León, Donostia San Sebastián Classicoa, Circuit de Gesso, Tour de Ain, Tour of Deutschland, Montreal GP, Quebec GP, and Coppa Agostoni, Giro delle Miglia, After a block of races since the end of July, including three one-day races in Italy, the Tre Valli Varesine, the team headed to Malaysia.

"It was race, race, race, and towards the end it just got worse and worse. That's what we needed more than anything."

With only one more race to go, there was one more chance to end a sluggish season on a high note. Bennett's teammate, sprinter Juan Sebastián Morano, had sprinted in the stage before an erratic sprint canceled his win. Colombia's Morano will have further chances late in the race.

"Every race is an opportunity for sure, and now that we are here we need to give it our all for tomorrow and see what happens.

But if things don't go according to Bennett and his team's plan--as they have many times this season--then at least soon it will be time to close the chapter and write a new one instead.

"I'm obviously very motivated for next year," he said. 'We'll take a break and start again. 'Obviously we missed the spring and then the Tour. So I'm excited to come into the season with a clean slate.

"I want to forget about this season and focus on the next one.