George Bennett has captured the biggest win of his cycling career.

The Kiwi Lotto NL-Jumbo rider has won the Tour of California, hanging on to his yellow jersey on the final stage.

LISTEN ABOVE: George Bennett speaks to Tony Veitch

Bennett finished safely in the peleton after a fiercely fast 125 kilometre stage, to become the first New Zealand cyclist to achieve a World Tour general classification win.

He's revealed something was wrong with his bike today which didn't allow him to sprint out of corners properly, saying it added to a hectic day.

"We thought we had it under control early on and then it just kicked off and the team were just awesome today and they kept their head on and showed some serious legs," he said.

"It's a pretty special day really - very, very special."

George Bennett finished 35 seconds clear overall with Poland's Rafal Majka second and American Andrew Talansky third.