Tour of Italy: Egan Bernal, five more days to win
Egan Bernal celebra su triunfo en la etapa 16 del Giro de Italia, el 24 de mayo de 2021 en la meta de Cortina d'Ampezzo, al norte del país Luca Bettini AFP
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
5 mins
During the 16th stage on May 24, Egan Bernal reinforced his leader's tunic by winning in the Dolomites at Cortina d'Ampezzo.
He now has five days left to become the second Colombian, after Nairo Quintana in 2014, to afford a Giro.
But the pitfalls are still numerous here in Milan.
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On Monday, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, just before the finish line, the young climber took the time to take off his black raincoat, to showcase his leader's pink tunic under a black gray sky, on wet ground and in cold.
The Colombian who won solo in the host resort of the 2026 Winter Olympics, about thirty seconds before Romain Bardet and the Italian Damiano Caruso, congratulated himself by evoking "
a great victory
" and a "
return
»At the highest level after having climbed under extreme conditions the only pass of the Dolomites taken that day.
The Giro had overlooked the two previous ones, the Fedaia and the Pordoi, because of the weather conditions (cold, rain, sleet) which could make the descents very dangerous.
“
It's something special to win on a grand tour with the leader's jersey
,” explained Egan Bernal, in pink for eight days after his success at Campo Felice.
No more back pain
While this Tuesday, May 25, the peloton is at rest, Egan Bernal thus tackles the last five stages in a situation of strength which will take him to a first coronation in Italy and a second grand tour on his record after France in 2019. In 2020 , Egan Bernal had dragged his sentence and finally gave up before arriving in Paris complaining of unbearable back pain. Today, the Colombian has regained his panache. “
I wanted to do something special, to show that I'm back and the team too
(Ineos Grenadiers)
,
said Bernal, visibly happy.
She believes in me and I have proven that she can count on me.
"
Barring an incident, we do not see who will be able to debunk Bernal in the third week. The Briton Simon Yates and the Belgian Remco Evenepoel who were cited as favorites at the start of this Tour of Italy are no longer able to undermine the Colombian. After a big failure in the Dolomites where he arrived more than twenty minutes late, Remco Evenepoel can even say goodbye to the top 10.
Nine months after his fall on the Tour of Lombardy 2020, he is not yet able to compete with Egan Bernal.
"
It is you
(the media)
who have always dreamed of winning ... I trained only two months before the Giro, it was impossible to be 100% ready for a three-week race
," he said. - he let go at the finish of the 16th stage.
Sparkling in the first week, he admits to having less and less strength.
Watch out for the traps of the third week
With 2'24 '' ahead of his runner-up the Italian Damiano Caruso, Bernal tackles the third week, the hardest of all, with a mattress, with three mountain stages and a time trial. While the Italian race is renowned for its upheavals in the home stretch, Bernal's supremacy seems obvious and unmistakable. But beware, everything can change quickly.
In 2018, Simon Yates, currently fifth overall, had a 2'11 '' lead before the last week over his runner-up Tom Dumoulin and nearly 5 minutes over Chris Froome, the future winner. In 2016, the Dutch Steven Kruijswijk, in pink, suffered a fall during the 19th stage and then dropped on the final climb. Kruijswijk gives up his leader's jersey to Colombian Esteban Chavez, who was three minutes behind in the general standings the day before.
Finally this 2016 edition will go to the Italian Vicenzo Nibali, whom he overthrows during the penultimate stage, where the organizer had concocted a route between Guillestre in France and the sanctuary of Sant'Anna di Vinadio with three large passes. .
“To
take the pink jersey at the penultimate stage of the Giro and win it, it's incredible,
” the Messina Shark commented at the time.
It is up to Egan Bernal to thwart all the traps by Sunday May 30 and the final arrival in Milan.
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