In a month and a half the Tour de France will start in Bilbao (Spain) and it is a great unknown if the Colombian credit Egan Bernal will integrate the batch of cyclists.

(It may interest you: Egan Bernal had another sensational battle in the penultimate stage in Hungary)

Bernal ends this Sunday his participation in the return to hungarya race in which he will finish in the top 10 and in which he has covered kilometers in search of a good form to be taken into account by the technicians for the French test.

After recovering from the severe accident on January 24, 2022 in which he was almost left in a wheelchair and even his life was in danger, the 26-year-old runner tries to recover lost ground.

A few months ago, Rod EllingworthDeputy director of Ineos, said that another option would be to take Bernal to the Tour as a gregarious.

“If Egan is fit enough, why didn’t he make it to the Tour? Because of his experience and the help he can bring to the team. The door is open, ”he said that time. EL TIEMPO consulted with three European cycling experts, who analyzed Bernal’s options to return to the test that he won in 2019.

“It is possible that at Ineos they do not tell you the whole truth. Maybe one leg of a good one is worth more than two of a bad one. The big question is if Egan is fit to go”, commented Javier Mínguez, cycling technician.

And he added: “Will you dispute it? Is not easy. The other thing, are you in a position to go to work for someone else? What is clear is that demanding Bernal today is a disqualification.

Mínguez is in favor of speaking face to face with the broker. “Under what conditions would I go. It’s a difficult year for him and if you want him back, you have to leave him alone, not put pressure on him. You have to talk to him first to see what conditions and if he is willing to go, ”said the DT.

Is better to wait

Photo:

Nestor Gomez – WEATHER

Andrea Tafí is a former runner. He won the Giro de Lombardy in 1996, was world champion in 1998 and a year later won Paris-Roubaix. Today he is a television commentator on the Giro d’Italia.

Ineos, before making a decision, you have to talk to him and see if everything is fine, if his recovery has gone the way they want

«Ineos, before making a decision, you have to talk to him and see if everything is fine, if his recovery has gone the way they want,» he said.

For Tafi, it is a decision that has already been made and that he will only say so a few days before the start of the competition. «I prefer to wait. She has been unlucky. It may be that in these races he has made good numbers, like in Romandie, when he finished eighth. He is a great runner, but the best decision is to wait, ”he recounted.

“They don’t have to risk anything, they shouldn’t put any pressure on him. I would like more to put up with him for the Vuelta a España, because going to the Tour demands a lot of work and I don’t know if he is in those conditions to go ”, Tafi sentenced.

(Read also: Giro d’Italia 2023: Ben Healy flies and wins stage 8; Buitrago, the best Colombian)

Eduardo Chozas is a Spanish former cyclist, today a commentator on Eurosport, in charge of broadcasting most of the competitions on television on the Old Continent. He points out that he’s too early to take Egan to a big one, but if they decide, he can serve as a lure for the runner.

Egan Bernal in the Vuelta a España 2021

“He is still recovering from that brutal accident. He does what he can in the races and you don’t have to put pressure on him. We have to give time to the time. He has lost a year due to the accident, the injuries and that today is more difficult to recover, ”Chozas objected. Given that chris froome He had a serious accident and was never the same again, but Egan is looking for his best form and is much younger.

“Today I don’t see Egan like when he won the Tour or the Giro, he doesn’t have that level, but I don’t see why he didn’t arrive either. Ineos has few options to win the Tour, rather they will go for a podium, a top 5, and for Bernal it would be a prize, of course, as long as they take it without pressure, although one will always do a job at those races ”, Huts specified.

There is nothing defined. Bernal wants to go, there are possibilities. This year, Egan has 28 days of racing and 4,342km in his legs, but his form ahead of the Tour will define everything.

LISANDRO RENGIFO
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@LisandroAbel

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