The official Egan Bernal is the new Egan Bernal thread

[luckyboy]

Re:

Per Brailsford: team to be decided after Tour du Suisse. He wouldn't say Bernal will be there, but he wouldn't say he won't either.

where did you see this?

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re:

My thoughts here: Sky must REALLY like this guy. 1st, no other 1st year race has ever been on the Sky Tour team and that's when there was 9 riders in the team. 2nd, it means that his "Free reign lesson" is taking a spot of another rider in the team that was planning on going to the tour. Lot of respect for that to happen. 3rd, this could mean a sweep of the jerseys for Colombia, assuming Gaviria takes green, Bernal takes white, Quintana takes yellow and polka dots.

Bernal doesnt share, Bernal will take them all

 

[DNP-Old]

Re: Re:

Per Brailsford: team to be decided after Tour du Suisse. He wouldn't say Bernal will be there, but he wouldn't say he won't either.

where did you see this?

It was on ESPN.

 

[luckyboy]

Re: Re:

My thoughts here: Sky must REALLY like this guy. 1st, no other 1st year race has ever been on the Sky Tour team and that's when there was 9 riders in the team. 2nd, it means that his "Free reign lesson" is taking a spot of another rider in the team that was planning on going to the tour. Lot of respect for that to happen. 3rd, this could mean a sweep of the jerseys for Colombia, assuming Gaviria takes green, Bernal takes white, Quintana takes yellow and polka dots.

If Sky can get him through the first nine days, could see a Colombian fight for yellow?

3 Colombians and 2 Spaniards battling each other! :lol:

 

[yaco]

Re:

PCS says he's down for the Dauphiné and La Route d'Occitanie next month. That will be 46 race days before the Tour, for a 21 year old. Seems kind of ridiculous when he only did 68 last year.

Why not take summer off and then do Getxo, San Sebastian, Burgos before going to the Vuelta with Henao/Thomas & Kwiatkowski...

You nailed it - This should be his program - He rides Dauphine and the TDF and that's 62 race days before the end of July - Sky should be shot.

 

[yaco]

I can't stress how important it is to have a defined race program/training program/rest times for Neo Pro's - Of course there may one or tweaks in the program for a variety of reasons but to throw in a TDF is staggering - Sky seem to have little idea for a 30+ m cycling team.

 

[rote_laterne]

Re:

I can't stress how important it is to have a defined race program/training program/rest times for Neo Pro's - Of course there may one or tweaks in the program for a variety of reasons but to throw in a TDF is staggering - Sky seem to have little idea for a 30+ m cycling team.

This. And besides by doing the Tour this year without proper preparation might hurt his 2019 season. I'm pretty sure GT likes the idea of Bernal going to the Tour too.

 

[del1962]

Bernal isn't a neo pro

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

PCS says he's down for the Dauphiné and La Route d'Occitanie next month. That will be 46 race days before the Tour, for a 21 year old. Seems kind of ridiculous when he only did 68 last year.

Why not take summer off and then do Getxo, San Sebastian, Burgos before going to the Vuelta with Henao/Thomas & Kwiatkowski...

You nailed it - This should be his program - He rides Dauphine and the TDF and that's 62 race days before the end of July - Sky should be shot.

He won't ride Dauphine anymore according to cyclingnews.

 

[CTQ]

Re: Re:

PCS says he's down for the Dauphiné and La Route d'Occitanie next month. That will be 46 race days before the Tour, for a 21 year old. Seems kind of ridiculous when he only did 68 last year.

Why not take summer off and then do Getxo, San Sebastian, Burgos before going to the Vuelta with Henao/Thomas & Kwiatkowski...

You nailed it - This should be his program - He rides Dauphine and the TDF and that's 62 race days before the end of July - Sky should be shot.

He won't ride Dauphine anymore according to cyclingnews.

The day after the race, they had a day with the sponsor. And after that, he posted a story on Instagram that he was taking a plane to Colombia. would he have returned to Colombia if Dauphine was in his schedule?

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

PCS says he's down for the Dauphiné and La Route d'Occitanie next month. That will be 46 race days before the Tour, for a 21 year old. Seems kind of ridiculous when he only did 68 last year.

Why not take summer off and then do Getxo, San Sebastian, Burgos before going to the Vuelta with Henao/Thomas & Kwiatkowski...

You nailed it - This should be his program - He rides Dauphine and the TDF and that's 62 race days before the end of July - Sky should be shot.

He won't ride Dauphine anymore according to cyclingnews.

The day after the race, they had a day with the sponsor. And after that, he posted a story on Instagram that he was taking a plane to Colombia. would he have returned to Colombia if Dauphine was in his schedule?

That is the most clear message I have read in here. He is going!

 

[Pricey_sky]

Not going to the Dauphine is definitely the right thing to do if he rides the Tour, it gives him 6 weeks to refresh and then build again.

By the way, going through his Instagram posts from last week in California, I notice all of his posts were liked by Contador, the great one approves! :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Not going to the Dauphine is definitely the right thing to do if he rides the Tour, it gives him 6 weeks to refresh and then build again.

By the way, going through his Instagram posts from last week in California, I notice all of his posts were liked by Contador, the great one approves! :lol:

Oh it definitely it, but that doesn't right the wrong that would be the Tour. You can almost sense in the comments from Sky that "if he then finds himself high up in the GC..."

 

[Climbing]

Doesn’t this points towards Sky thinking that Froome won’t be riding the Tour (or being completely out of shape)?
It seems a terrible idea to send Bernal in France while he could take a lengthy break and do Vuelta + end of season with WC and autumn classics.
Tbh they are already making him race way too much imho… let’s hope it doesn’t end being cooked at 25-26 …

 

[Bolder]

Re:

I can't stress how important it is to have a defined race program/training program/rest times for Neo Pro's - Of course there may one or tweaks in the program for a variety of reasons but to throw in a TDF is staggering - Sky seem to have little idea for a 30+ m cycling team.

Re Sky, with five of the last six TdF wins, I beg to differ.

To be honest I don't see how racing the TdF hurts Bernal OR Sky. They are probably only counting on him to be a superdomestique on mountain stages so long as CF is in the mix. If CF blows up, or doesn't start, then he can freelance in breaks or go for stage wins. And I'm sure he wants to do it.

As for racing days/rest breaks: I think we can all agree that ToC was not exactly the Tour de Suisse/Dauphine as far as difficulty. And the TdF is still more than a month away. I think he'll have ample rest if that's what he needs, especially if he's skipping the Dauphine. If he's got great form now, isn't it just as likely that he won't reach a second peak at the Vuelta?

 

[Parker]

Re:

Doesn’t this points towards Sky thinking that Froome won’t be riding the Tour (or being completely out of shape)?
It seems a terrible idea to send Bernal in France while he could take a lengthy break and do Vuelta + end of season with WC and autumn classics.
Tbh they are already making him race way too much imho… let’s hope it doesn’t end being cooked at 25-26 …

I heard it said that that Sky are a worried about him being overhyped and if he went to the Vuelta he'd be hyped up as a potential winner, while if he went to the Tour in Froome's shadow there would be no pressure and he could learn the ropes at his own pace.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Doesn’t this points towards Sky thinking that Froome won’t be riding the Tour (or being completely out of shape)?
It seems a terrible idea to send Bernal in France while he could take a lengthy break and do Vuelta + end of season with WC and autumn classics.
Tbh they are already making him race way too much imho… let’s hope it doesn’t end being cooked at 25-26 …

I heard it said that that Sky are a worried about him being overhyped and if he went to the Vuelta he'd be hyped up as a potential winner, while if he went to the Tour in Froome's shadow there would be no pressure and he could learn the ropes at his own pace.

That is the most insanely idiotic thing I have ever heard.

 

[Parker]

Re: Re:

Doesn’t this points towards Sky thinking that Froome won’t be riding the Tour (or being completely out of shape)?
It seems a terrible idea to send Bernal in France while he could take a lengthy break and do Vuelta + end of season with WC and autumn classics.
Tbh they are already making him race way too much imho… let’s hope it doesn’t end being cooked at 25-26 …

I heard it said that that Sky are a worried about him being overhyped and if he went to the Vuelta he'd be hyped up as a potential winner, while if he went to the Tour in Froome's shadow there would be no pressure and he could learn the ropes at his own pace.

That is the most insanely idiotic thing I have ever heard.

Why? It really isn't. He rides his debut GT in a low profile role alongside the best GT rider of the last five years. There's no pressure, he can have off days, he can quit if need be. If he goes to the Vuelta, against a lesser field, people start asking 'can he win' - not least by the Colombians.

Simon Yates did the Tour in his debut season aged 21. Froome did it in his debut season having just turned 22. Bernal's more experienced than they were.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Doesn’t this points towards Sky thinking that Froome won’t be riding the Tour (or being completely out of shape)?
It seems a terrible idea to send Bernal in France while he could take a lengthy break and do Vuelta + end of season with WC and autumn classics.
Tbh they are already making him race way too much imho… let’s hope it doesn’t end being cooked at 25-26 …

I heard it said that that Sky are a worried about him being overhyped and if he went to the Vuelta he'd be hyped up as a potential winner, while if he went to the Tour in Froome's shadow there would be no pressure and he could learn the ropes at his own pace.

That is the most insanely idiotic thing I have ever heard.

Why? It really isn't. He rides his debut GT in a low profile role alongside the best GT rider of the last five years. There's no pressure, he can have off days, he can quit if need be. If he goes to the Vuelta, against a lesser field, people start asking 'can he win' - not least by the Colombians.

Simon Yates did the Tour in his debut season aged 21. Froome did it in his debut season having just turned 22. Bernal's more experienced than they were.

Red Rick is right. The Colombians are already thinking that he can win the Tour.
So there is that for pressure!

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Doesn’t this points towards Sky thinking that Froome won’t be riding the Tour (or being completely out of shape)?
It seems a terrible idea to send Bernal in France while he could take a lengthy break and do Vuelta + end of season with WC and autumn classics.
Tbh they are already making him race way too much imho… let’s hope it doesn’t end being cooked at 25-26 …

I heard it said that that Sky are a worried about him being overhyped and if he went to the Vuelta he'd be hyped up as a potential winner, while if he went to the Tour in Froome's shadow there would be no pressure and he could learn the ropes at his own pace.

That is the most insanely idiotic thing I have ever heard.

Why? It really isn't. He rides his debut GT in a low profile role alongside the best GT rider of the last five years. There's no pressure, he can have off days, he can quit if need be. If he goes to the Vuelta, against a lesser field, people start asking 'can he win' - not least by the Colombians.

Simon Yates did the Tour in his debut season aged 21. Froome did it in his debut season having just turned 22. Bernal's more experienced than they were.

S.Yates went home halfway through the TDF and he wasn't riding for a GC team - He HAD no pressure - And S.Yates wasn't riding for results in his first year.

 

[Red Rick]

Avoiding hype by going to the Tour is like trying to stay clean by spending all your time in a crack den.

The hype will be there as long as he isn't minutes and minutes down in GC, which is invariably a more stupid result than going for GC at the Tour.

So either you get more hype than by going to La Vuelta, or you deliberately self sabotage. Either option is stupid.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re: Re:

Doesn’t this points towards Sky thinking that Froome won’t be riding the Tour (or being completely out of shape)?
It seems a terrible idea to send Bernal in France while he could take a lengthy break and do Vuelta + end of season with WC and autumn classics.
Tbh they are already making him race way too much imho… let’s hope it doesn’t end being cooked at 25-26 …

I heard it said that that Sky are a worried about him being overhyped and if he went to the Vuelta he'd be hyped up as a potential winner, while if he went to the Tour in Froome's shadow there would be no pressure and he could learn the ropes at his own pace.

That is the most insanely idiotic thing I have ever heard.

Why? It really isn't. He rides his debut GT in a low profile role alongside the best GT rider of the last five years. There's no pressure, he can have off days, he can quit if need be. If he goes to the Vuelta, against a lesser field, people start asking 'can he win' - not least by the Colombians.

Simon Yates did the Tour in his debut season aged 21. Froome did it in his debut season having just turned 22. Bernal's more experienced than they were.

Yes, it sounds logic. But still I would prefer to see him at Vuelta this year.

 

[Parker]

Re: Re:

S.Yates went home halfway through the TDF and he wasn't riding for a GC team - He HAD no pressure - And S.Yates wasn't riding for results in his first year.

And nor will Bernal. He won't be leading the team, Froome will be - and he'll get the glare of the media for sure. And the Colombian media will focus more on Quintana, Uran, Gaviria - actual team leaders. If Froome is not there I don't think Bernal will be either.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

But if Froome appears at Tour the rest of the squad will play pure domestique role, also Bernal.
At Vuelta with GT as a leader, Bernal might be a joker.

 

[Red Rick]

Ohwell, the notion of GT as a Vuelta leader instead of Bernal is hilarious in the first place.

Thomas has 3 top 10s in WT stage races in the last 3 years

Bernal has 3 this year, and he would've had 4, including a win and 2 second places if not for crashing out of Catalunya.