Re:
Logic-is-your-friend said:
Does Kwiatkovsky even want to be a GC rider? I mean, why would they even favor him over Bernal, who could use these small GC races to boost confidence, gain experience in defending a lead etc... or would they just throw Kwiatkovski a bone and assume Bernal's time will come anyway?
Stage races GC-wise, Bernal has won Amgen (WT) 2018, Sibiu (2.1, Romania) 2017 and Colombia (2.1) 2018 (+ stage wins). And Avenir 2017, of course.
Kwiato has won Tirreno (WT) 2018, Poland (WT) 2018, Algarve (2.1) 2018 and 2014 (+ stage wins).
Can't really see the difference between these two considered as GC riders, especially as far as one-week races are concerned.
Obviously, Bernal will most likely develop (very) shortly into a rider capable of winning any GT - while Kwiato most likely will not. But in one-week races, I can easily see both of them winning GC. "Throwing a bone" (to Kwiatkowski) vs. "boosting confidence and gaining experience in defending a lead" (for Bernal) does not sound fair enough.
If I were Sky, I would see no reason to favour Bernal over Kwiatkowski, or to favour Kwiatkowski over Bernal.