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

[hayneplane]

Fantastic performance today. Showed the form and fitness is where it needs to be and must be a great confidence booster for the sterrato Giro stage.

 

[Lequack]

Remco might have a competitor after all.

 

[JRanton]

Fantastic performance today. Showed the form and fitness is where it needs to be and must be a great confidence booster for the sterrato Giro stage.

After today I’d be surprised if he even starts the Giro yet alone compete for the win. He was clearly in a lot of pain due to his back.

 

[Red Rick]

After today I’d be surprised if he even starts the Giro yet alone compete for the win. He was clearly in a lot of pain due to his back.

Did he say that?

 

[JRanton]

Did he say that?

Not yet but it was obvious from the images of him grimacing early in the climb. When he said after the Ventoux stage last month that his back was still troubling him that was a really bad sign of things to come. The problem is there‘s no proper treatment for the condition he has so we can’t be sure he’ll ever be 100% again,

 

[Red Rick]

Not yet but it was obvious from the images of him grimacing early in the climb. When he said after the Ventoux stage last month that his back was still troubling him that was a really bad sign of things to come. The problem is there‘s no proper treatment for the condition he has so we can’t be sure he’ll ever be 100% again,

He's got to have been screeing inside and out, right? Makes me wonder that if it was still bothering him why the hell he was doing STRADE of all races.

 

[Netserk]

I would imagine it is worst in long climbs, as I wrote after Strade. Probably also after several days' effort. Pinot also has it worse on long climbs, it seems.

 

[Rollthedice]

Don't know about Bernal. Backpain or not I have the impression he stumbled pretty quickly in his career on a bunch of new riders who can go faster uphill than him and that's even inside his own team.

 

[therealthing]

We haven't got much to go on since his prolific 2019 season to be fair. He's looked pretty good this year but not really seen him tackle multiple mountain stages yet.

 

[Eeslliw]

It seems like he is not okay. I think these 3 hard race days in a row put too much pressure on his back and it started to hurt. I can't see him going at it for 3 weeks. But then In Strade-Bianche he looked great. If this continues, I would start to worry about his future.

 

[Red Rick]

Don't know about Bernal. Backpain or not I have the impression he stumbled pretty quickly in his career on a bunch of new riders who can go faster uphill than him and that's even inside his own team.

Which one within his own team is clearly better?

 

[Eeslliw]

Which one within his own team is clearly better?

Carapaz?

 

[Escarabajo]

Bernal said that this would be a transition year. And that he would have to deal with the backpain all this year. He feels that he can be full again in 2022. I don't know about that, but he said that.

As for his position, he needs to address his gear ratios. They look very hard for a climb like this.

 

[Rollthedice]

Which one within his own team is clearly better?

Haven't said clearly but I see Caraparaz above Egan (this stupid autocorrect keeps changing Bernal to Herbal).

 

[Red Rick]

Haven't said clearly but I see Caraparaz above Egan (this stupid autocorrect keeps changing Bernal to Herbal).

I don't see how Carapaz is ahead of Bernal other than extreme recency bias.

 

[Escarabajo]

Bernal does not seem very worried. He said that things are coming along slow.

https://www.revistamundociclistico.com/2021/fue-un-dia-muy-duro-y-estoy-tranquilo-por-como-esta-mi-condicion-egan-bernal/

Rollthedice, if Bernal continues with his back issues I assume that he will have many riders above him inside and outside the team. So it is a moot point if the problem is not solved.

 

[JRanton]

I would imagine it is worst in long climbs, as I wrote after Strade. Probably also after several days' effort. Pinot also has it worse on long climbs, it seems.

Yeah, he looked better today but much shorter climbs of course.

 

[elastico]

I read his comments differently. This emphasis on "I trust my team coach and I believe in the process" sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself everything is on the right way. But I sense doubts are creeping in. No wonder, he is very young and has every right to be impatient. And patience he needs as Daniel Schade, the sport scientist in charge of Bernal's back says that we probably won't see the effects of the adjustments until 2022 or 2023. Now I feel Egan is on a similar level as last year. He was in the thick of the action then but clearly below Roglic's level and this year in the shadow of Pogacar. These repeating defeats must be mentally really difficult as the Colombian had been hyped as "bestia", won the Tour so young and many experts thought of the new era of his dominance. What I like about Egan, though. and I saw that today is that he is a fighter, grimacing with clenched teeth as he crossed the line two min behind Tadej. And the last thing: isn't he the rider with the most hunched position on the bike? Doesn't it play part in his back problems or it's just his style?

 

[ice&fire]

He's 4th in GC just 30s behind Landa! This cannot be. He has to do something to correct this wrong.

 

[Netserk]

Don't worry, Landa will snatch 4th place from the jaws of podium.

 

[elastico]

I don't think Egan's main ambition is to beat Landa. He's 3:30 behind the leader in Tirreno Adriatico after only 5 stages and 2:15 behind Roglic's domestique...

 

[Escarabajo]

I read his comments differently. This emphasis on "I trust my team coach and I believe in the process" sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself everything is on the right way. But I sense doubts are creeping in. No wonder, he is very young and has every right to be impatient. And patience he needs as Daniel Schade, the sport scientist in charge of Bernal's back says that we probably won't see the effects of the adjustments until 2022 or 2023. Now I feel Egan is on a similar level as last year. He was in the thick of the action then but clearly below Roglic's level and this year in the shadow of Pogacar. These repeating defeats must be mentally really difficult as the Colombian had been hyped as "bestia", won the Tour so young and many experts thought of the new era of his dominance. What I like about Egan, though. and I saw that today is that he is a fighter, grimacing with clenched teeth as he crossed the line two min behind Tadej. And the last thing: isn't he the rider with the most hunched position on the bike? Doesn't it play part in his back problems or it's just his style?

Well, yeah, if they said 2022 and 2023 we won't know then. It could be true that there are other performing problems but we don't have reason to doubt that he should have higher level at his age now either.

I agree with you that his position doesn't make him any favors nor his large gear ratios. But it is so, so hard to change one's position. I haven't seen a rider that changes his climbing position over the years. I have seen them adjusting position on the TT but not on the regular bikes. Maybe someone that has more knowledge can point me to someone who has changed position over the years.

 

[elastico]

Egan fidgets like a bored child on a saddle of his TT bike. Can't anyone explain to him that's where he wastes some of his power? Or maybe, as Escarabajo mentioned earlier, he uses too high gear ratio and the whole body movement becomes inevitable.

 

[DaLong]

2nd in PCS Ranking without winning a stage yet this year. Sandwiched between three monsters who win everything. Quietly having a solid year.

 

[Escarabajo]

Here we go Egan:

https://www.revistamundociclistico.com/2021/todo-dependera-de-como-responda-mi-espalda-si-todo-va-bien-me-centrare-en-la-general-del-giro-de-italia-egan-bernal/

Deduct what you want from the interview. Egan 's back is an unknown. Hopefully is fine and we get the good Egan!