Egan Bernal: Everything will depend on how my back responds
The former Tour de France champion has been struggling with back problems
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Egan Bernal says his Giro d’Italia will depend on the back problems he has been struggling with in recent years.
The Colombian star, winner of the 2019 Tour de France, will be making his debut in the Italian Grand Tour this weekend, entering the race as the bookies’s favourite despite flying under the radar so far this season.
Bernal has been dealing with back pain, believed to be caused by a difference in the length of his legs, which eventually forced him to withdraw from the 2020 Tour de France after he fell out of contention in the final week.
The 24-year-old will be leading his Ineos Grenadiers squad at the 2021, but is uncertain how his back problems will affect his performance.
In an interview with Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport (opens in new tab), Bernal said: “Everything will depend on how my back responds. If everything will be okay then I’ll focus on the overall classification and the fight for the maglia rosa in Milan. We’ll see day by day because I haven’t raced for two months. It’s useless to make false promises.”
>>> How to watch the Giro d’Italia 2021: Live stream the first Grand Tour of the season
Bernal, the winner of seven stage races in his three-year WorldTour career, has been relatively quiet so far this season.
After starting his season in Étoile de Bessèges where he didn’t perform, Bernal finished third overall in the Tour de la Provence, was third in Strade Bianche and then finished fourth in Tirreno-Adriatico in mid-March, his last race before the Giro.
Bernal then returned to Colombia to train at altitude and hopes to start in Turin at full fitness.
Ineos Grenadiers are reigning champions in the Giro after Tao Geoghegan Hart took an unexpected victory in the unpredictable 2020 edition.
But as Geoghegan Hart focuses on the Tour de France, Bernal will lead Ineos in Italy as the team want to shake up his approach to racing.
Team principal Sir Dave Brailsford said earlier this year that Bernal needs to “find the joy of racing again,” suggesting he may have become too focused on results.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.
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