I was hoping for an Ullrich '98 style long range attack the col de la Madeleine from him today. Ultimately unsuccessful but stage winning. Alas, it's not meant to be.
It's a shame for him. Pinots obviously sustained en course. Bernal seems more complicated?
Don't forget he also quit the Dauphine with the same problem. 22 is awfully young to start having back issues.
He has one leg longer than the other which is the underlying physical cause.
Sean Yates had that problem, he used to ride with a built up shoe I believe.
That sounds the easy solution but you would think they would have tried this.
Maybe they have but after years of riding with the problem, maybe the damage has been done and now gets inflamed when he tries to ride at the top level of the sport.
Probably a sensible decision - he's miles off form, and has some kind of physical problem, there's no point in continuing. Start the recovery and sort whatever is wrong.
All Road/ Gravel: tbcWinter: tbcMTB: tbcRoad: tbc"Look at the time...." "he's fallen like an old lady on a cruise ship..."
Since we have to have another thread on it apparently, I'm going to have to register my non-surprise that Man not going very well on Team not going very well...
didnt go very well 😕
We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver
^(and I'm going to repeat that he could be totally mentally destroyed by this tour, take a year off in a monastery to recover, and still return to compete for the White Jersey...)
We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver
Since this was present at the Dauphiné, it certainly opens up Brailsford for his team composition choice. He took an injured Bernal to the Tour on hopes of it getting better. He took Carapaz who was training for the Giro (possibly defensible). Sivakov was so busy crashing, he forgot to take part in the race.
Amador and van Baarle and maybe even Rowe contributed very little. In the end only Kwiatkowski and Castroviejo performed well.
Not trying to be overly critical, because you have to make the decisions based on the information you have at the time, but it was a total disaster. One could also say the dual leadership idea was borne out of Froome crashing in 2014 and Sky having a terrible Tour. Their secondary leader was MIA this year.
They gambled by not taking Froome or Thomas and lost. But I will concede, that I may have done the same with those two lacking form.
They are a fact driven team, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they learn from this.
Chances are Bernal will be ok next year though he's still to prove that when fit he can dominate like Froome did.
Next year will be interesting - presumably they stick with Bernal, Carapaz and Thomas but right now that lineup is looking much weaker than the 4 leaders they went into 2020 with.
Isn't the Ineos issue to do with the training regimes they have, rather than the riders themselves. This is the second year in succession where many of the riders have underperformed in the Tour itself, although their Tour last year was saved by Bernal and Thomas.
What worked before isn't working now, so they need to work out what's going wrong in the build up rather than the race itself.
Some of it will be down to Covid and where riders are based. A lot of countries were locked down so hard you couldn't leave the house etc, so that must play a part.
However, something clearly isn't working. Either that or everyone else has just stepped up.
I've heard speculation that Bernal was overtrained possibly due to his lockdown super kms. I reckon Ineos will rest him up a bit then team leader him for the Vuelta.
I've heard speculation that Bernal was overtrained possibly due to his lockdown super kms. I reckon Ineos will rest him up a bit then team leader him for the Vuelta.
I'm sure Froome will welcome that. Fwiw I don't see Bernal recovering in time to ride the Vuelta.
Lol. It would definitely pi$$ off Froome. As much as I would like to see a-back-at-his best Froome, I reckon Bernal has at least a good a chance of being in GT form in November.
Some of it will be down to Covid and where riders are based. A lot of countries were locked down so hard you couldn't leave the house etc, so that must play a part.
However, something clearly isn't working. Either that or everyone else has just stepped up.
Well, the Slovenians didn't have lockdown and were doing full training on the road. Draw your own conclusions.
The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.
Some of it will be down to Covid and where riders are based. A lot of countries were locked down so hard you couldn't leave the house etc, so that must play a part.
However, something clearly isn't working. Either that or everyone else has just stepped up.
Well, the Slovenians didn't have lockdown and were doing full training on the road. Draw your own conclusions.
My point exactly. For example Froome and G live in Monaco where they had a strict lockdown. Bernal didn't but was he doing the right sort of training?
Some of it will be down to Covid and where riders are based. A lot of countries were locked down so hard you couldn't leave the house etc, so that must play a part.
However, something clearly isn't working. Either that or everyone else has just stepped up.
Has nothing to do with Covid. Bernal was training like crazy, putting in insane hours. He is most likely overtrained rather than undertrained. Seems like a common theme at Ineos as Moscon was also overtrained last year at the World championships.
Roglic and the Yates brothers spend time on Zwift to deal with their lockdown and it did them wonders. This is what other riders could also have been doing.
WvA did benefit from being in Belgium obviously, but that does not explain Bernal his performance.
Posts
Young Egan must have spent too much time talking to Pinot, when he was in the bus, yesterday.
22 is awfully young to start having back issues.
Maybe they have but after years of riding with the problem, maybe the damage has been done and now gets inflamed when he tries to ride at the top level of the sport.
Could he have Covid? Similar symptoms to those that other athletes have experienced - and the test is 70% effective.
SkyIneos should have kept the jiffy bags inside the 'bubble' eh? 🤔Compare him to how he was riding last year and it's chalk & cheese.
didnt go very well 😕
- @ddraver
Would be happy to be proved wrong.
Expensive cripple for the ineos budget, i hope they have break clauses.
- @ddraver
Amador and van Baarle and maybe even Rowe contributed very little. In the end only Kwiatkowski and Castroviejo performed well.
Not trying to be overly critical, because you have to make the decisions based on the information you have at the time, but it was a total disaster. One could also say the dual leadership idea was borne out of Froome crashing in 2014 and Sky having a terrible Tour. Their secondary leader was MIA this year.
They gambled by not taking Froome or Thomas and lost. But I will concede, that I may have done the same with those two lacking form.
They are a fact driven team, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they learn from this.
Next year will be interesting - presumably they stick with Bernal, Carapaz and Thomas but right now that lineup is looking much weaker than the 4 leaders they went into 2020 with.
What worked before isn't working now, so they need to work out what's going wrong in the build up rather than the race itself.
However, something clearly isn't working. Either that or everyone else has just stepped up.
Draw your own conclusions.
I am not sure. You have no chance.
For example Froome and G live in Monaco where they had a strict lockdown.
Bernal didn't but was he doing the right sort of training?
Roglic and the Yates brothers spend time on Zwift to deal with their lockdown and it did them wonders. This is what other riders could also have been doing.
WvA did benefit from being in Belgium obviously, but that does not explain Bernal his performance.
- @ddraver
Or the football standard 'injury crisis'