Egan Bernal could also miss Paris – Nice, they say in Italy

Egan BernaHe is one of the country’s strongest cards in road cycling. The 26-year-old rider from Bogotá already has a Tour de France (2019) and a Giro d’Italia (2021) to his name, however, an accident he suffered in early 2022 put his life in danger and left him warned. to compete for several months. The 2023 season was shaping up to be the rider’s big comeback, but a crash during the first stage of the Vuelta a San Juan forced him to sit out again.

During this time and due to discomfort in the left knee, the runner could not participate in the National Road Championships, where he hoped to compete with many of the best riders in the country today such as Diego Camargo, Daniel Felipe Martínez, Miguel Ángel López, Nairo Quintana, Esteban Chaves (champion), among others. He could not be present at the Back to Andalusia competition in which he hoped to measure himself against one of the great candidates for the Tour de France, Tadej Pogacar.

The severity of Egan Bernal’s injury is a mystery, however, the rider was optimistic and posted his recovery progress on his social media. The Colombian’s message is one of patience, great calm and step by step. For this reason, the Colombian’s participation in the Paris-Nicecalled the race to the sun, is in abeyance.

Although it was mentioned that their participation in Paris – Nice was practically guaranteed, the information published by the Gazzetta dello Sportt opens up enormous uncertainty about the current situation of the leader of the INEOS Grenadiers. The Italian newspaper pointed out that they had consulted several sources within the British squad and the answer they gave was “it has not yet been decided when he will return to competition”.

“Information from Gazzetta dello Sport: sources have told us that it has not yet been decided when Egan Bernal will return to competition. So far Paris – Nice (March 5-12) for him is still a question mark”published the journalist Ciro Scognamiglio

The Colombian’s possible loss in the French race, which he won in 2019, would almost certainly place Daniel Felipe Martinez as team leader. In addition, some European media point out that there was a huge expectation for this edition of Paris – Nice because it would have for the first time the last three winners of the Tour de France, Egan Bernal (2019), Tadej Pogaccar (2020 and 2021 ) and Jonas Vinegaard (2022).

For now, the race for the sun will have several top riders and great candidates to be the protagonists of the great laps of road cycling such as Tadej Pogacar (United Arab Emirates team), Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo – Visma), Romain Bardet (DSM), david gaudu (Groupama FDJ), Simon Yates ((Jayco AlUla), Ben O’Connor (AG2R), among others.

Added to the Colombian’s situation are the statements made by Rod Ellingworth in an interview with Cycling Newswhere he assured that the INEOS Grenadiers does not want to put pressure on Egan Bernal in the current season, therefore, they would choose Daniel Felipe Martínez as the leader of the Tour de France. The cyclist from Soacha has made a great start to the current campaign, winning silver in the national road races and being champion of the Tour of the Algarve.

“Dani (Martínez) is our main objective of the Tour Right now”. He then assured that regarding the situation of Egan Bernal, “I don’t expect anything from him at all. I think that would be unfair. He will have his own expectations because that’s how he’s motivated. But still nothing to say about the Tour. It’s completely open.”