Tour de France 2023 Tour de France, Stage 1: Bilbao - Bilbao, 182 km (Spain, Saturday, July 1)

Page 18 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
perico

perico

Mar 11, 2009
4,235
3,529
21,180
Lequack said:
Why do you folks think Egan Bernal can't win it?
Click to expand...
He wasn’t on the same level as Pogacar and Jonas before the accident. He couldn’t stay healthy then either: abandoned the TDF, looked like a shell of himself in his Giro he still won, and then couldn’t keep pace with Mas or Lopez (much less Roglic) in the mountains of La Vuelta.

So I could turn the question around and ask. Why would anyone think he could win a TdF now?
 
  • Like
Reactions: KZD and DJ Sprtsch
Valv.Piti

Valv.Piti

Aug 3, 2015
22,732
10,668
28,180
Shell of himself is rather harsh: He was flying on Giau which we never really got to see. Imagine if they had ridden the full stage, absolute carnage.

But yes, the last couple of stages he wasn't great, and the Vuelta he rode the same year wasn't that great either. My guess is he was still somewhat hampered by 2020.

We also never REALLY got to see him in 2019, he was great on Galibier and Iseran though which was to be expected, but then the cancellations happened. Pyrenees that year he would have gotten absolute smashed by these two guys.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan and Bolder
B

Bolder

Jun 25, 2015
5,331
5,417
23,180
perico said:
He wasn’t on the same level as Pogacar and Jonas before the accident. He couldn’t stay healthy then either: abandoned the TDF, looked like a shell of himself in his Giro he still won, and then couldn’t keep pace with Mas or Lopez (much less Roglic) in the mountains of La Vuelta.

So I could turn the question around and ask. Why would anyone think he could win a TdF now?
Click to expand...
Yeah, I agree that top Bernal was just a bit below top Pog/Ving. His 2019 win was a little bit asterisked to me because of a few factors: the shortened stages, the Pinot injury (although I don't think he would have won) and Thomas held back (correctly) to ensure Bernal's win. That said, he was on an upward trajectory before his back injury so we may never know what his tippy top level is (or could have been). I give him a ton of credit for managing to win a GT with what was I assume a herniated disc (I have one! Ouch!) and then fighting back from a near-fatal crash.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan and gregrowlerson
DNP-Old

DNP-Old

Aug 6, 2014
9,848
7,054
23,180
Egan Bernal hasn't been healthy since.... I don't know.... since he was born? He has a leg length discrepancy, and with the body trying to compensate, he developed heavy scoliosis and a disc herniation. Joe Dombrowski, who looked like America's next big thing for a while, had the same issue and it nearly cost him his career.

These back problems weren't diagnosed until October of the year 2020 and can only be fixed with very long term methods. Whether he has made progress on this is impossible to say, given his life was only hanging on by a few pieces of tendon. Covid didn't do him any favours either (which he got just before La Vuelta, btw), as he had to rush a TDF prep, which I think did more harm than good. We've seen with Van der Poel what it can do.
 
QueenStagiaire

QueenStagiaire

Jun 30, 2022
7,418
10,811
17,180
The only other cyclist winning a race in PCS‘s database in a town bearing their name was Romain Bacon winning the French junior ITT Championships in Bacon in 2008, let‘s hope another guy joins this list in a town starting with the letter B.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom