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EsCiclismo.com · Road Competition · 09/16/2020
Last season, Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadier) became the youngest cyclist to win the Tour de France since 1909. At 22, the cyclist from Zipaquir showed a precociousness as surprising as his progression, always ascending.
A year and a confinement later, the first Colombian to triumph in the Tour appeared at the start of the race with number 1, an undisputed leader status, with no one to overshadow him, and the dominating team of the last years to your service.
With everything in his favor, Bernal ended up abandoning the race before the start of stage 17 and after spending almost 20 minutes in two high mountain stages, where he was supposed to have carved out the defense of his title.
Suffering from pain in his back, the Colombian did not show himself brilliant at any time in a race in which he only left a slight attack on the ascent of Marie Blanque, in the second Pyrenean stage, to be remembered.
When everyone expected his reaction, on the ascent to the Grand Colombier, Bernal dropped the mask in which he had hidden his difficulties and allowed himself more than 7 minutes.
After ensuring during the second day of rest that he would dedicate himself to helping the team seek a stage victory, on the way to Villard de Lans he confirmed his poor form: back pain made him strain his knee. Early in the morning of this Wednesday, his team announced that he would not start.
ATPIC SEASON
The young Colombian cyclist suffered the first major blow in his career, at the end of an atypical season, marked by the effects of the pandemic on his preparation.
Bernal began his year in the championships of his country, where he was third against the clock and second in line, a race in which he suffered a fall, which may be the origin of his back problems.
A few weeks later he played the Tour Colombia, where despite his prestige he settled for a fourth place.
When he went to Europe to start his season in the Old Continent in Paris-Nice, his team decided to give up that race, given the advance of the Covid-19 pandemic.
For this reason, he returned to his country, where the confinement was longer than in Europe, which disturbed his preparation.
I returned four months later, thanks to the special permission that the Colombian government granted to cyclists to begin their preparation in Europe on July 20.
Installed in Andorra, Bernal participated in the Occitan route on August 1, his first competition in four and a half months, where the Colombian gave signs that he was in good condition. He won the queen stage with a top in the Indian col de Beyrde, after overcoming those of Bals and Peyresourde, which allowed him to win the general.
A few weeks later, at the Tour de Ain he was outmatched by the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, in what was to be the first stage of a season that seemed destined to measure his strength.
LDER NICO
The first round in favor of the Slovenian was preceded by another in the Dauphin, an aperitif of the Tour, in which the Colombian threw in the towel earlier after the fourth stage, suffering from the same back pain. Roglic also did not end after suffering a fall.
With the alarms going off, his team announced that Britons Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, with five Tour victories between them, would not attend the Tour, leaving Bernal alone in front of the projectors. Quite the opposite of last season, when he was shielded behind Thomas almost to the end.
Bernal now has to digest this first major setback in his young career and learn from failure. After a few weeks of recovery, which will prevent him from going to the Imola World Cup, the Colombian can focus his goal on the Vuelta a Espaa, a race to which he has always dedicated words of praise.
Luis Miguel Pascual
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