Teams & Riders The official Egan Bernal is the new Egan Bernal thread

[AlexNYC]

I have to admit I wasn't very excited by his move to Sky, but it's turned out great I think. That he has improved his ITT (mountain or not) so quickly is a sign that he's getting a lot higher caliber coaching than he was getting in the past. Also, I'm quite surprised that Sky has given him this many opportunities to race for himself at this level. I'd already taken it for granted that he'd only be doing so at neopro type of races, at least during his first year.

 

[Escarabajo]

So what is the story?

Somebody calls Savio and tell him, hey man I have this kid from Colombia who is a great talent beating everyone on the MTB. Come and test him or check him out. Savio then goes and test him and his eyes go backwards. Then talk to the legal team about putting together a contract with a payment exit clause. LOL. Then he starts opening his mouth and Egan start backing him up with his talent. Sky then proceed to check his numbers and the rest is history!

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

I have to admit I wasn't very excited by his move to Sky, but it's turned out great I think. That he has improved his ITT (mountain or not) so quickly is a sign that he's getting a lot higher caliber coaching than he was getting in the past. Also, I'm quite surprised that Sky has given him this many opportunities to race for himself at this level. I'd already taken it for granted that he'd only be doing so at neopro type of races, at least during his first year.

There was no real pressure on him at the start of the year, despite his lofty reputation. His performances have earned him the chance at these races, and I’m guessing his numbers in pre-season were great and that allowed him the opportunity, which hasn’t always been the case with new arrivals at Sky taking a year to adjust.

Even today, both Sky and Bernal said they knew the watts he could do and it was excecuted perfectly. He’s an exceptional talent.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re: Re:

I don't know, how will bernal do in a 40km flat ITT? This was an MTT after all

He was very, very mediocre in flat ITT's with Androni, but Sky have already adjusted his TT-position massively (I've posted a pic somewhere in this thread). Since, he's become Colombian national champion on a course that was as flat as they come and thus heavily in favour of the big engines like Omar Mendoza and Walter Vargas. Walter Vargas finished at 0:31 and he put Omar Mendoza on a minute.

Funny thing about that time trial in the national championships is; Egan thought he was awful and he kept looking behind to see if he was about to be overtaken.

And it was 25 km ITT, with his avg speed.. 52.3 km/h.
Dumo's avg speed at 21st stage of last Giro (29.3 km) was 52.6 km/h.
Nice.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re: Re:

If he's among the best climbers in the MTT, I'm gonna go ahead and think he can win the Vuelta.

I was afraid to say it, but thats exactly what I thought.

And we have the answer.
Bernal in TdF'18? Apparently it looks like a joke but is not. It's quite likely Froome will not be able to ride Tour, so in this scenario Sky will not risk too much. Neither Poels or Thomas will gain podium, top5 is maximum. So Bernal as a joker might be quite obvious and absolutely amazing.
And his result could be the biggest surprise for many years.

 

[Jspear]

Can only hope he moves away from Sky so I can start cheering for him! Impressive today. He could be the guy to beat in the future. But still think he has a few years before he will be a real GT contender.

I’ll cheer for him regardless of the team he’s on. Changing teams would be nice, but I can live with it as is. As long as they don’t stunt his growth I’m okay.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

If he's among the best climbers in the MTT, I'm gonna go ahead and think he can win the Vuelta.

I was afraid to say it, but thats exactly what I thought.

And we have the answer.
Bernal in TdF'18? Apparently it looks like a joke but is not. It's quite likely Froome will not be able to ride Tour, so in this scenario Sky will not risk too much. Neither Poels or Thomas will gain podium, top5 is maximum. So Bernal as a joker might be quite obvious and absolutely amazing.
And his result could be the biggest surprise for many years.

I don't see it, unless Froome can specifically not do the Tour but can be back for the Vuelta.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Can only hope he moves away from Sky so I can start cheering for him! Impressive today. He could be the guy to beat in the future. But still think he has a few years before he will be a real GT contender.

I’ll cheer for him regardless of the team he’s on. Changing teams would be nice, but I can live with it as is. As long as they don’t stunt his growth I’m okay.

Same here and they don't quite seem to do that... rather the opposite. He has simply been amazing so far in 2018.

On the Tour, just dont bring him. Im 99% sure they wont.

 

[ppanther92]

Re:

World's best rider at 21?

Can climb, TT, punch and sprint.

This guy is already better than Quintana.

To bring back the example of above: Andy Schleck could these three things as well on a similar level at this age (yes, also TT - look at his results) and yet he never became the serial winner many were expecting. Might be just too soon to tell in Bernal's case too. But of course his outlook is tremendous.

 

[Netserk]

Estimated with DrF and using vetooo's numbers, Bernal did 6.63 W/kg for the 25'10'' (1864 VAM). Note however that there was a tailwind, so it's lower than that.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

Estimated with DrF and using vetooo's numbers, Bernal did 6.63 W/kg for the 25'10'' (1864 VAM). Note however that there was a tailwind, so it's lower than that.

It's still gonna be pretty high, but that's to be expected in an MTT in stage 3 of a stage race. It's perhaps more interesting how it compares to the others, and I guess it's a decent big higher than the rest of the field. I guess Roglic, heavy as he is, needs less W/kg at the same VAM.

 

[Netserk]

DrF is normalized for weight. It's purely based on gradient and VAM.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

World's best rider at 21?

Can climb, TT, punch and sprint.

This guy is already better than Quintana.

To bring back the example of above: Andy Schleck could these three things as well on a similar level at this age (yes, also TT - look at his results) and yet he never became the serial winner many were expecting. Might be just too soon to tell in Bernal's case too. But of course his outlook is tremendous.

Andy Schleck had more problems than that. He had a superior talented competitor who was only 3 years older in Contador, and he was hyper focused on the Tour, and he's about the same age as Nibali who's also a 4 time GT winner. Bernal is coming up just as the previous top dogs are saying there goodbyes or while they're slowly heading to their last hurrah's as potential GT winners. There's nobody in the 5 years before him who's gonna be a dominant multi GT winner. Dumoulin and Quintana have 3 GTs between them and they're both from 1990.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

World's best rider at 21?

Can climb, TT, punch and sprint.

This guy is already better than Quintana.

To bring back the example of above: Andy Schleck could these three things as well on a similar level at this age (yes, also TT - look at his results) and yet he never became the serial winner many were expecting. Might be just too soon to tell in Bernal's case too. But of course his outlook is tremendous.

Andy Schleck had more problems than that. He had a superior talented competitor who was only 3 years older in Contador, and he was hyper focused on the Tour, and he's about the same age as Nibali who's also a 4 time GT winner. Bernal is coming up just as the previous top dogs are saying there goodbyes or while they're slowly heading to their last hurrah's as potential GT winners. There's nobody in the 5 years before him who's gonna be a dominant multi GT winner. Dumoulin and Quintana have 3 GTs between them and they're both from 1990.

Wait what? I thought, the sky train will not last against the might Enric Mas? Red Rick? Were you lying?

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

World's best rider at 21?

Can climb, TT, punch and sprint.

This guy is already better than Quintana.

Sagan was far better at that age.

 

[fuiers]

Have only been watching cycling for less than a year now but jeez this guys is talented and so young. Great future ahead of him.

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

World's best rider at 21?

Can climb, TT, punch and sprint.

This guy is already better than Quintana.

Sagan was far better at that age.

Far better, in early '11? I think that's pushing it.

 

[qwerty16]

Re:

Estimated with DrF and using vetooo's numbers, Bernal did 6.63 W/kg for the 25'10'' (1864 VAM). Note however that there was a tailwind, so it's lower than that.

Both Fuglsang and Dan Martin said there was a quite strong headwind for the majority of the course.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Estimated with DrF and using vetooo's numbers, Bernal did 6.63 W/kg for the 25'10'' (1864 VAM). Note however that there was a tailwind, so it's lower than that.

Both Fuglsang and Dan Martin said there was a quite strong headwind for the majority of the course.

That's because Dan Martin isn't used to pacing anything.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Estimated with DrF and using vetooo's numbers, Bernal did 6.63 W/kg for the 25'10'' (1864 VAM). Note however that there was a tailwind, so it's lower than that.

Both Fuglsang and Dan Martin said there was a quite strong headwind for the majority of the course.

That's because Dan Martin isn't used to pacing anything.

:lol:

 

[Hugo Koblet]

What a talent. I haven't seen such a promising rider since Sagan burst onto the scene. He seems to be amazingly allround even though he by first glance looks like a pure climber. We'll still have to wait and see how he does in a flat time trial, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's more than able to hold his own in that discipline as well. A thing to note is that he seems to ride with great focus and authority very rarely seen in a rider his age.

 

[Der Effe]

Sky's latest half man, half machine.

 

[Jspear]

Re:

Sky's latest half man, half machine.

Nah. He rides with panache.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Sky's latest half man, half machine.

Nah. He rides with panache.

I don't know whether he has really ever ridden with panache, but if he has, Sky will take care of that problem very soon

 

[Der Effe]

Re: Re:

Sky's latest half man, half machine.

Nah. He rides with panache.

Haven't seen enough of him to comment on that, but I was more referring to the endless possibilities this kid has. Only 21, holy crap.