A difficult uphill last time trial noticed Egan Bernal slip from third to fourth within the total standings on the Tour de Suisse however the Colombian is hopeful that he has completed sufficient to earn a spot on Ineos-Grenadiers’ crew for a GC tilt on the Tour de France, which begins on June 29 in Firenze.
“It was laborious. I hoped to maintain the rostrum on this race, however that is biking. I had a foul day on the bike,” Bernal mentioned in a post-race interview in Villars-sur-Ollon.
“I did my finest however I am feeling a bit unhappy, additionally due to the crew, as a result of we labored actually laborious all week for this podium and, ultimately, I simply misplaced it by 10 seconds, or no matter it was.”
Bernal completed fifth on stage 4 atop Gotthard Go and moved as much as fourth total earlier than leaping up one spot after taking third on stage 5’s summit end to Carì. He went into the ultimate day, stage 8, holding third place total at 1:51 behind eventual total winner Adam Yates and runner-up João Almeida, each UAE Workforce Emirates.
Nevertheless, within the 15.7km race towards the clock from Aigle to Villars-sur-Ollon that included a ten.2km climb that averaging 8.2% the rostrum place slipped away. Almeida gained the stage, with Yates taking second place and profitable the general title. Bernal completed ninth at 1:30 again dropping to fourth place total behind Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), who completed third within the last stage.
Bernal hasn’t raced on the Tour de Suisse since he gained it in 2019 and mentioned the race appeared harder than he remembered however that it additionally supplied some perception into his kind forward of larger targets this season.
“It’s at all times a tough race, however I feel on this version, we had been going actually quick on the climbs. The extent was tremendous excessive, and for positive, we did good coaching for the upcoming races,” Bernal mentioned.
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Following a life-threatening crash in early 2022 and return to racing, Bernal’s total situation has improved steadily, with a seventh at Paris-Good, third place within the Volta a Catalunya – his first WorldTour podium since his comeback – tenth at Tour de Romandie and now fourth total on the Tour de Suisse.
Ineos-Grenadiers have but to announce their Tour de France crew, a race Bernal gained in 2019, however he mentioned that if he does participate he want to see if an total classification bid was attainable.
When requested the place he shall be racing subsequent, Bernal mentioned, “Hopefully the Tour and I feel with the Tour I shall be blissful.”
‘I do not need to be somebody who simply finishes within the prime 10 in GC on a regular basis’ says Pidcock
Bernal’s teammate Tom Pidcock mentioned he had the most effective time trials of his profession on stage 8 on the Tour de Suisse. He completed fifth on the day, 50 seconds slower than Almeida, and moved to sixth place total.
“It was certainly one of my finest time trial outcomes since turning professional, so I may be actually proud of that. Day-after-day, I’ve gotten higher this week. I began off, actually, not good, coming from altitude, and I used to be tremendous mild, and daily was getting higher. That was my finest time trial, the numbers had been actually excessive, so I feel I may be actually blissful,” Pidcock mentioned.
The reigning World Champion, Olympic gold medallist in cross-country mountain biking and former Cyclocross World Champion mentioned that with coaching, he believes he may additionally win the largest stage races.
“It exhibits what, type of, observe does. We have had 5 days in a row within the mountains, and every day, I am getting higher. It is actually optimistic for me to see.” Pidcock mentioned after shifting as much as sixth total.
“After all, I do not need to be somebody who simply finishes within the prime 10 in GC on a regular basis, but it surely’s actually optimistic for the longer term.”
Pidcock will now flip his consideration to the fifth spherical of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Sequence, which is being held in Crans-Montana, Valais, within the Swiss Alps. He says he’ll keep there till heading to the Tour de France.
“Proper now, I am going to Crans-Montana tonight and I race the World Cup subsequent weekend earlier than going to the Tour. So, I do not go residence. I keep right here in Switzerland.”
