Egan Bernal said he wants to see Chris Froome riding alongside him at the 2020 Tour de France.
Colombian star Bernal returns to the Tour as the reigning champion and the race favourite, after re-starting his season well in smaller French stage races.
But Froome’s place in the Team Ineos Tour de France squad is in doubt, as he hasn’t shown his previous form in the first two weeks of racing after the coronavirus break.
While speaking to ITV at the 2020 Critérium du Dauphiné, Bernal was asked if he wanted Froome in the squad later this month.
The 23-year-old said: “For sure, he's one rider who has a lot of experience. To have a seven-time Grand Tour winner in the team is important. I would like to have him in the team.”
Bernal took third on the opening day of racing at the Dauphine as the best-placed general classification contender as Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) secured another big win.
On his intentions for the rest of the Dauphine, Bernal said: “I will try to go for the GC, I think it will be a good opportunity to see how my performance is and I’ll try to do my best and prepare for the Tour de France.
“I think the most important goal for us should be ride as a team and start to feel the real feeling of what it’ll be like in the Tour, try to be there in the GC but looking at the Tour de France more than anything else.”
Bernal came out swinging in his first race of the reset season, taking the overall title at La Route d’Occitanie earlier this month.
He was strong again last week in the Tour de l’Ain, but Team Ineos were bested by Jumbo-Visma with Primož Roglič taking the win, with Bernal finishing second.
Froome finished the Tour de l’Ain in 41st place, more than 20 minutes down on the race leaders.
Despite the poor result overall, the four-time Tour de France winner put in a strong support performance during the early climbs on the final day of the Tour de l’Ain, sharing his Strava stats after the stage.
According to reports, the Team Ineos squad for the 2020 Tour is almost settled with Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas taking on the leadership duties once again, with Pavel Sivakov working in a key domestique role.
>>> The 2020 World Championships in Switzerland have been cancelled
But the final place in the team is not yet decided, with Froome still fighting for his place if the reports are to be believed.
