Unfortunately, some types of back issues are never over, but can be stabilized. I sincerely hope that’s not the case for him and it’s a shorter-term issue.
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Since he is with Ineos I'd say they would have provided him with the best of expertise and care, plus he is young
. It probably does not fully eliminate risk but hopefully for a super talented athlete like Bernal it is enough for him to deliver his peak performance with no long term problems. So far he looks in superb form.
His position on the bike is quite extended indeed (even if talking about pro riders). But I don't see it to be any less extended now than it had been before the back issue appeared.
I belive he had it adjusted in terms of his back problems though. However, the source of his back pain, is that one of his legs is shorter than the other. Then I assume the correction of his bike position was mainly about using some cleat wedges and this kind of stuff. The extended position surely puts extra stress on his back but that's not the main problem imo. Of course they could've made his position more "relaxed". But it definitely would've took him a loong time to get used to this new position (given he's been riding in this "hyper extended" position since he's started racing on the bike) + it would've been likely less effecient (aerodynamically as well as he could struggle to get comfortable during hard efforrts and pushing big watts).
Then I think that the general approach was more like trying to adjust and preapre his body (by proper strength training etc) to his extended position on the bike. Not the other way around.
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Bernal does seem to have a longer torso for his height, which allows for some extension and definitely a more aero position. Realistically though, aero means sh*t to a GC rider that's largely protected until serious effort. Ergonomics and smooth power transitions are what make for economic racing. He seems to have been coached early on to be fairly smooth with his pedal stroke and pack movements. Actually; you can only teach so much of that. He's got some natural jock skills to go along with his bike preparation.
I could guess that they would suggest different seat and cleat adjustments to lessen imbalances. His real test comes when the prolonged, steep climbs rely on power in the saddle. Zoncolon will be a good test bed on how well he's done making adjustments and recovering.
Sorry to geek out on this stuff but the really great, survivable champions never look like they're working that hard and Egan had some way to go in that regard IMO.
Good day today. He seems to be saving some energy now. He looked very comfortable.
Its unfortunate that we dont have someone who is a good yardstick for how good bernal really is in the race. If yates is coming good, he might be, but hasnt been impressive himself for some time now. Dominating the others surely is great, but hard to judge if that puts him up with pogacar/roglic.
I'm honestly amazed by how good he is looking. It's not that after a bad year he is back to his former self and tdf winning shape, it's that he is genuinely looking better than then. The 2019 Tour was super inconsistent from him, he had two strong performances and he was lucky with weak competition and Pinot getting injured. I guess the competition isn't much better here, but he is looking so consistently great. There hasn't been a single gc day (except the ITT of course) where he hasn't looked like the strongest rider to me and todays performance, following Yates like that and finishing with that attack looked super impressive. Not just "giro winning impressive", but rather "If he had that shape at the Tour I wouldn't bet against him impressive".
The most you can do is to overcome the challenges in front of you, and he's doing that magnificently so far. The climb was impressive, but being right on top of the split on the descent was equally so. Another stellar day
A shame that he can't test himself against the Slovenians in this kind of shape.
He seems to be a top 3 climber right now but still on the 3rd spot behind Rog and Pog.
He seems to be a top 3 climber right now but still on the 3rd spot behind Rog and Pog.
Bonimenier
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Both Bernal and Pogacar are planned to do the Vuelta, and Roglic will probably join after he chokes in the TDF again.
There was one Slovenian ahead today on Zoncolan! On more serious note, Bernal looks like Roglič on Paris–Nice. Both doing great job but the peloton in both cases not necessarily the strongest one. I still feel that if they would send Bernal to Giro in 2020, they would have likely save Bernal much grief. On this edition of Giro Bernal shines in everything he undertakes. Ineos as a team is stellar too.
Respect.
Respect.
Depends on the route: at this years TdF the Slovenians would be heavily favoured due to TTs. At a mountains dominated GT it would be more interesting but I think we'll see their duels in the future (Pogacar and Bernal are NextGen GT leaders while Roglic has a few years of prime left).
He still has to finish this off but until we see this Bernal against Rog and Pog there will still be questions. I hope Egan can make it a threesome.
But what I recall of the 2019 TdF was Bernal's superiority was only clearly evident at altitude. In the Pyrenees he looked vulnerable. This Giro he has stamped his authority without his physiological advantage at over 2,000 meters.
Bernal got easily beaten at the Tourmalet. Then he was actually better the day after at 1200m. It's not about altitude it's about form. In back to back days there's very little difference for him at altitude vs not altitude.
I will hunt you down with that claim when he doesn’t. Roglic is a great champ and a fantastic character and petty insults like these only make you look silly and small...
Just only compare to the Alps IMO. And I'd probably want more longer climbs to compare to. The field here is somehow similar apart from Yates being potentially a really good rival, but then funnily enough Yates himself has had so few great GC performances himself.
If I had to guess, still behind Roglic and Pogacar in pecking order. And it's very hard to see him change that cause he's probably not gonna ride very aggressively from here on out.
I know your view on altitude but that's your view and I disagree on 2019 TdF. Tourmelet is explained by the fact Bernal was peaking for the third week. The difference in the Alpes in the last three mountain stages was obvious. Thomas and every other climber was powerless on the Col de l'Iseran . Had that stage gone to Tignes (2,113 meters) I believe Bernal would have won by a bigger margin.
You were confidently predicting Buchmann would win today. What happened did he choke?
I don't really believe in peaking for the third week unless there's a specific reason for being worse in the first two weeks. But if he did peak for the third week, that goes against the altitude narrative.
As for the Iseran, altitude helps you if you're the best climber and you team crushes the first half of a climb. That's about it. Funnily enough, Quintana was faster on the Galibier the day before but then got crushed on the Iseran.
A tour and a giro beats a tour or 2 vueltas, so its pretty clear where he sits if he wins
Quintana didn't have the form to compete for GC so he isn't a good yardstick that Tour. That's why he was so inconsistent. You can perform one day but the next you collapse. When you are in best form you don't collapse.
But for those who are saying this Giro is boring they should be thankful this edition does not have mountains like the Stelvio.
Bonimenier
BANNED
Bonimenier - Okay you didn't say Buchmann would win the stage but you did say he would be in pink.....
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