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Egan Bernal admits to being out of the fight for the Tour podium.
Egan Bernal said on Sunday that he had lost three years of his life with the collapse of the promotion to the Grand Colombier, assuming he was far from defending the title and also fighting for the podium of the Tour de France by bike.
“I suffered from the first climb, I think I lost about three years of my life on today’s stage. I was just waiting for a miracle that never happened. I gave everything, I did the best I could, but the others are stronger and I couldn’t “. to follow them you have to recognize it ”, declared the winner of last year’s Tour.
After today’s debacle, which ended in more than 07.20 minutes lost to the yellow jersey, the Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), the INEOS leader admitted that being on the podium in Paris “is no longer an option” .
Bernal refused to justify his poor performance with the back injury that led him to leave the Dauphiné Criterion just two weeks before the start of the Tour de France.
“Obviously it was not the best way to start the Tour, I had back pain every day, but I can’t hide behind the back pain. Today, the problem was more leg pain than back pain,” he said. .
Before the 15th stage, with an unprecedented arrival at the Grand Colombier, a special category count installed at the end of 17.4 kilometers of ascent with an average slope of 7.1%, the Colombian, 23 years old, was third overall. , 59 seconds off Roglic; now it is the 13th, at 08.25 minutes.
“Now I want to get on the bus, rest, see what the team wants and rethink the race,” concluded the cyclist who, last year, at 22 years and six months, became the third youngest to win the ‘Grande. Boucle ‘, according to the French Maurice Garin, in 1904, and the Luxembourgish François Faber, in 1909.
The first Colombian to win the Tour was not the only representative of his country to have a day to forget, as Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) also said goodbye to the podium, losing 03.50 minutes to the first two of the stage, the Slovenians. Tadej Pogacar (United Arab Emirates) and Primoz Roglic.
“I tried to hold on as long as I could, but there are already two falls, the last of which was very strong, and I had a lot of pain. What I am doing is pure pride and heart, but even my soul hurts. Still, I will try continue”. , said the second runner-up of the Tour (2013 and 2015).
The 30-year-old Colombian fell to ninth place overall and is 05.08 minutes behind Roglic.
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