Cycling: Colombian Egan Bernal turns to the Tour of Italy
Colombian Egan Bernal in training before the start of the Tour de France on August 27, 2020 in Nice.
AFP
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
4 min
In 2021, the Colombian Egan Bernal will have as priority to shine on the Tour of Italy which will begin on May 8 in Turin.
The winner of the Tour de France 2019, who abandoned the Grande Boucle last September, will be one of the big favorites of the Italian race.
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In tears on the slopes of the Grand Colombier, Egan Bernal could no longer bear his back pain which would force him to abandon his dream of a double in the Tour de France last September.
In October, medical examinations revealed scoliosis because of one leg longer than the other.
The reason for his severe back pain.
However, the previous year, Egan Bernal, son of a cyclist, heir to the rich history of Colombian cycling, absolute hero, was crowned on the Champs-Élysées at only 22 years old.
A victory which marked both the first success of a South American rider and that of the youngest rider to win the Tour in 100 years.
We could already see him aligning successes on the Big Loop like threading pearls.
His victory sparked madness in Colombia, where cycling is one of the most popular sports along with football.
Egan Bernal during the final arrival on the Champs-Élysées in 2019. AFP / File
"
I feel like a cyclist again
"
At the time, the Ineos team felt they had recruited Christopher Froome's successor, the “White Kenyan” with four victories.
But ultimately, in cycling, nothing is ever written in advance.
At the first coronation of Jan Ullrich in 1997, the German was predicted to have a long reign on the roads of the Tour de France.
It did not happen.
In 2021, Egan bernal, from mountain biking, born at an altitude of 2,600 meters, will try to win his second Grand Tour, this time in Italy.
He will have at his side the Russian Pavel Sivakok, his compatriot Daniel Martinez, and the world time trial champion, the Italian Filippo Ganna, winner of four stages of the Giro 2020.
The next Tour of Italy will start on May 8 with a 9-kilometer time trial in the streets of Turin.
In 2019, Egan Bernal should have made his first Grand Tour in Italy, but a broken collarbone had shaken his plans.
Arrived in Europe from Colombia at the end of January, Egan Bernal took the start of the Étoile de Bessèges in France which started on Wednesday 3 February.
His first race since his retirement from the Tour de France.
In an interview with
Gazzetta dello Sport
, Egan Bernal said: “
It's going a lot better.
I feel good, I am super motivated.
What matters is to have found the good feelings to compete at the highest level.
I feel like a cyclist again.
The climber of Ineos also explained: “
On the Tour, I had pain every five minutes, my back in pieces.
With number 1 on my back and all those physical problems… It was hard, very complicated.
I didn't want to sink
.
"
Favorite of the Italian race, Egan Bernal will face Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) or even Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quick Step) in the quest for the Pink Jersey.
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Cycling
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