“Today I was suffering all day, with back pain and it was increasing,” Bernal said according to AS.com. “In the last climb it hit my knee. I’m nervous from all sides. If I continued like that, it would be difficult to fight for the platform at the Col de la Lays, which is a very difficult climb, a lot of slow. man. “
Bernal left no hope of defending his title at the Tour de France after losing contact maillot jaune After catching Rosalie only to gain a time bonus in the first half of Race 15, the group on the Grand Kamesier on Stage 15. He lost 7:20 in just a few kilometers, but admitted that he was hurting at Cole de le BC, who advanced on the final climb.
There was speculation that Bernal would have to devote a lot of time to gain more freedom to win the first leg of this Tour de France team. Ineos Grenadiers had a good chance to claim victory at Stage 16, but 2019 Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz lost contact with final-stage winner Lenard Kamna (Bora-Hansgroe).
“The goal was to win the stage with an Ineos rider. The team was fine and focused on helping me, but now they have freedom,” Bernal said.
Carapaz managed to give Ineos the first podium appearance of the race, which was awarded the Most Combative Rider Award.
It has been a remarkably bad year for Ineos, which has dominated the Tour de France since 2012, and the grueling circumstances have forced Principal Dave Brilsford to look ahead to the 2021 Tour de France and what he will be up to this year Can, try disposal. Competition.
“It’s now a bit of a test of pride, passion and character, to come back from it for the rest of the week. But as far as we’re concerned, this is the first day of trying to win the Tour de France next year.”, Bresford he said.
Patrick Lefevre, manager of Deceuninck-QuickStep, compared Bernal’s form with other riders such as Jordan’s Alafilip, who were forced to stay indoors for weeks due to local COVID-19 control measures.
He said, “Everyone is talking about Bernal’s long training rides, but before that he spent two months indoors. The riders who were to stay indoors are not in the original condition like other years . ” Sporza.
“It’s very simple to say that Bernal is over-trained. Rather, it’s a lack of foundation. When you build a house, you have to put it on a good foundation. Those people really built their fitness on the sand Did because they are unable to do anything for two months. “