Egan Bernal is ready to take on the Tour de France for the first time since his near-fatal crash, but he is also aware of his limits, according to his Ineos Grenadiers team boss.
Ineos deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth told the media on Tuesday that Bernal would go for general classification at the Tour, but he also warned of being realistic.
The Colombian suffered 20 fractures, as well as both his lungs collapsing, after hitting a bus during training at the start of 2022. He had to have seven surgeries, including two on his spine; he said at the time that the crash left him with a “95 per cent chance” of being paralysed.
“Egan is very ambitious, but he’s also very realistic with what he can achieve. He wants to keep challenging himself,” Ellingworth said. “We know Egan is a proven winner. He’s a fantastic leader for us and a road captain in a way.
“We were very open and happy to give him this opportunity to see what he can do. He’s definitely going to try for GC. As I said, he’s very realistic, let’s not pretend anything different. He just wants to GC. For him, it’s just the next step of hopefully getting back to where he wants to be. He has a good mindset.”
Bernal is one of five Spanish-speakers in the Ineos squad, with Carlos Rodríguez, Omar Fraile, Jonathan Castroviejo and Dani Martínez. They will join Michał Kwiatkowski, Tom Pidcock and Ben Turner in Bilbao. Rodríguez will also aim for GC.
“I think for him [Bernal] racing with Tom and all the guys, there’s a lot of experience in the group and it’s going to be a great experience to race with Egan,” Ellingworth said.
The 26-year-old was eighth overall at the Tour de Romandie earlier in 2023, and then 12th at the Critérium du Dauphiné, his best WorldTour GC results since the crash.
Some riders might be nervous about returning to cycling’s biggest race, but Bernal seems to be eager for the challenge.
“I think this is where this guy surprises me every day, he was keen to race it,” Ellingworth said. “As I’ve said all along, we’ve just kept the door wide open for Egan. He deserves the chance. He has had a couple of falls since and shown how tough he is.
“He’s up for it, he puts himself in the right place in the peloton every time. Mentally, I don’t see any change with the guy at all. If anything, it has made him stronger. He has had this major moment, which has made him a more complete athlete. He is learning new things.”
Ellingworth was honest about Ineos’ chances on GC at this race, with the Tour debutant Rodríguez and the returning Bernal facing the dominant Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
“As a team, our ambition is still that we want to win the Tour again,” he said. “This year we’ve picked a group of riders from a tactical point of view. They’re all very versatile, they’re all proven winners.
“We’ve got to be very realistic with where we are at this moment. We’ve got two guys, in particular, who we want to play that GC role with. Let’s see where they get to. Then we have the whole group which is capable of winning stages.”
