Bernal out

Bad back. He's going home to lie on the kitchen door
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Comments

  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    edited September 2020
    Glad you started this as I was going to stick it in the stage thread.

    Young Egan must have spent too much time talking to Pinot, when he was in the bus, yesterday.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • It's a shame for him. Pinots obviously sustained en course. Bernal seems more complicated?
  • 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.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • 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.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,217

    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.
  • Pross said:

    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.
  • andyrac
    andyrac Posts: 1,123
    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..."
  • mpatts
    mpatts Posts: 1,010
    Here is my conspiracy thought:

    Could he have Covid? Similar symptoms to those that other athletes have experienced - and the test is 70% effective.
    Insert bike here:
  • skeetam
    skeetam Posts: 178
    andyrac said:

    Probably a sensible decision - he's miles off form

    Is he? He said at the end of stage 13 at the top of the Puy-Mary that his numbers were really good.
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 12,608
    mpatts said:

    Here is my conspiracy thought:

    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? 🤔
  • zest28
    zest28 Posts: 403
    skeetam said:

    andyrac said:

    Probably a sensible decision - he's miles off form

    Is he? He said at the end of stage 13 at the top of the Puy-Mary that his numbers were really good.
    Indeed, Bernal did his best ever numbers. Other riders are simply stronger than him. He even admitted this.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,243

    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 hasn't looked comfortable this year sitting on the bike.

    Compare him to how he was riding last year and it's chalk & cheese.
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    skeetam said:

    andyrac said:

    Probably a sensible decision - he's miles off form

    Is he? He said at the end of stage 13 at the top of the Puy-Mary that his numbers were really good.
    Well he would say that, wouldn't he?
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • mpatts said:

    Here is my conspiracy thought:

    Could he have Covid? Similar symptoms to those that other athletes have experienced - and the test is 70% effective.

    Not convinced standing on the pedals and trying to flex your pelvis is one of the main symptoms of Covid 19, tbf - looked like a back twinge.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    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
  • david37
    david37 Posts: 1,313
    And i predict he will never come back to fulfil the potential he appeared to have.

    Would be happy to be proved wrong.

    Expensive cripple for the ineos budget, i hope they have break clauses.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    ^(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
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,312
    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. :wink:

    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.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • 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.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,069
    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.
  • dannbodge
    dannbodge Posts: 1,152
    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.
  • Harry182
    Harry182 Posts: 1,169
    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.
  • Harry182 said:

    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.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • Harry182
    Harry182 Posts: 1,169
    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.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,595
    dannbodge said:

    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.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • dannbodge
    dannbodge Posts: 1,152
    pblakeney said:

    dannbodge said:

    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?
  • zest28
    zest28 Posts: 403
    edited September 2020
    dannbodge said:

    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.

  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    When did "They cocked up" become such a controversial answer...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,137
    ddraver said:

    When did "They cocked up" become such a controversial answer...


    Or the football standard 'injury crisis'
    Twitter: @RichN95