Egan Bernal set to to return to racing at end of March and could feature at Tour de France, say INEOS Grenadiers
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Updated 07/03/2023 at 16:36 GMT
Egan Bernal's recovery from his serious accident has been, understandably, drawn out, and an unrelated knee issue has slowed it further. But his INEOS Grenadiers team say he will be back this month, and may even feature at the Tour de France, with team manager Rod Ellingworth comparing his potential impact to Geraint Thomas. Meanwhile, Tom Pidcock says he believes he can win the Tour "one day".
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Egan Bernal is set to return to racing at the end of March and could even feature at the 2023 Tour de France, his team the INEOS Grenadiers have said.
Bernal has been on the long road back to finding form and fitness following his serious accident in January 2022 that came close to taking his life.
And that return has been further delayed by a separate knee issue which saw his proposed appearance at the Vuelta a Andalucia cancelled.
Now, however, though no specific races have been stipulated, it looks like the Colombian is not far off remounting the bike competitively.
“Egan will be back in Europe pretty soon and so, hopefully, he'll be racing at the end of the month," INEOS Grenadiers team boss Rod Ellingworth told Cyclingnews.
“He's obviously been a bit frustrated but we're supporting him. It's been reported that he’s had a knee niggle, which has nothing to do with the crash or the accident from last year.
"Egan's eager to race but often with these guys, you’ve got to hold him back.”
Ellingworth also revealed that Bernal is in his thoughts for this summer's Tour de France.
“At the end of the day, we've got 30 bike riders and any of them could ride the Tour," Ellingworth said. "You've got to put the best eight on the line, haven't you?
“What we know about Egan and what you could see last year, is that he's still prepared to put in the hard work for the team if he's the leader or not a leader.
"He's a bit like Geraint Thomas in that sense. They're great role models for the younger guys.
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Filippo Ganna of Italy and Egan Arley Bernal Gomez of Colombia and INEOS Grenadiers prior to the 39th Vuelta a San Juan International 2023, Stage 6 a 144.9km stage from Velódromo Vicente Chancay to Velódromo Vicente Chancay / #VueltaSJ2023 / on January 28
Image credit: Getty Images
“If Egan was fit enough, why would you not take him to the Tour for his experience and for the help he can give the team?
"The door’s completely wide open and the Tour is still four months away.”
Meanwhile, Tom Pidcock, victorious on Alpe D'Huez last year, says he is eyeing a Tour de France win - but perhaps not this year.
“The performance on the day was not bad [on Alpe D'Huez]," Pidcock, who won Strade Bianche last weekend, reflected to the Telegraph.
"But it wasn’t the best. I know very well I won that stage from the breakaway. I didn’t beat the best riders in the race one-on-one.
"The next step is winning stages against the best guys. But I believe I can.
"I believe one day I can win the Tour.
“For now, I want to win stages outright. Obviously, after last year, I’ll have less and less freedom to be able to go in breaks and win like I did last year.
“I think I know myself quite well. I know what my limits are. Whether it’s mountain biking or the Olympics, or with cross, or where I can get to with the classics.
"I feel like when I believe it’s realistic to win something, so far I haven't been wrong about it.”
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