I'm not too surprised with his performance. He was alrady able to finish top30 in Coppa Sabatini last year so I was positive that he would make a return to competitive racing in 2023. I bet many people don't realise that being able to finish just a few minutes behind the winner in such race is like your body being 98% up there in terms of what you need to do to win races. And he got there in just 8 months from the accident and 1 month from returning to a pro race for the first time. It was to be expected he would've made further gains before early 2023, and any further gains from the level he already showed in September 2022 would've put him in the ballpark of being a leadership worthy rider.
It took Froome 3 years (Mercan Tour Classic in 2022) to get to the level Bernal was already on a month since his return to racing. For me that was a sign that Bernal would recover much better than Froome.
It took Froome 3 years (Mercan Tour Classic in 2022) to get to the level Bernal was already on a month since his return to racing. For me that was a sign that Bernal would recover much better than Froome.