Ineos Grenadiers were left delighted by Egan Bernal’s late showing on stage one of Paris-Nice.
The Colombian came across the line smiling after briefly igniting some minor general classification action on the opening stage, a punchy circuit around Les Mureaux which was won by Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike).
"One stage less," he told Cycling Weekly post stage. "We’ll go through it stage by stage but keep our feet on the ground."
"We had a plan to move the race on that last climb," he later added in a video from his team. "We were in a good position and then when I saw the opportunity I just followed the guys. We tried to make the race hard and we did it."
Bonus seconds can prove to be crucial in Paris-Nice, as was shown by the top riders determination to attack to snap up what was on offer at the only intermediate sprint point of the day, a steep uphill drag at Montainville.
Bernal accelerated on the 10% ramp, grabbing third behind Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson and Remco Evenepoel. Jorgenson was the first rider to jump but some of the overall race favourites were straight onto his wheel. Bernal was rewarded with two seconds for his efforts.
However, perhaps more impressive was Bernal’s willingness to push on once the race hit the final climb of the day, the Côte d'Herbeville. The Colombian surged off the front of the main field to test his legs once more and was briefly joined by Evenepoel and Primož Roglič.
The move was short lived, but showed that the Colombian is gradually regaining some confidence as he returns to WorldTour racing after a serious crash in 2022 which left him severely injured. A long period of rehabilitation followed before he eventually returned to racing action.
The former Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner started the current season in strong form and took third overall at O Gran Camiño behind Jonas Vingegaard.
Steve Cummings, head of racing at Ineos Grenadiers, told Cycling Weekly in Les Mureaux that simply having Bernal present at the race already felt like a victory.
"Obviously, it was a brutal, brutal accident," Cummings said as he reflected on Bernal's comeback. "It's worth looking back and reminding yourself about how bad it was. And then, since then, he's just steadily improved, step by step, and he continues to improve. So it's really good, I’m really happy.
"I read something yesterday, like the first 40 hours, they weren't sure if he was going to walk and all of this kind of stuff. So it's incredible, really, just to have him at the race and then to see he keeps improving, it feels like a victory every day to be honest."
"He's a really special character in that way as well," he added. "Very resilient. gritty, happy and a very good person."
Paris-Nice continues on Monday with an opportunity for the sprinters. Stage two is a flat 179 kilometre run between Thoiry and Montargis.
