A difficult uphill remaining time trial noticed Egan Bernal slip from third to fourth within the general standings on the Tour de Suisse however the Colombian is hopeful that he has finished sufficient to earn a spot on Ineos-Grenadiers’ staff for a GC tilt on the Tour de France, which begins on June 29 in Firenze.
“It was arduous. I hoped to maintain the rostrum on this race, however that is biking. I had a nasty day on the bike,” Bernal stated in a post-race interview in Villars-sur-Ollon.
“I did my greatest however I’m feeling a bit unhappy, additionally due to the staff, as a result of we labored actually arduous all week for this podium and, in the long run, I simply misplaced it by 10 seconds, or no matter it was.”
Bernal completed fifth on stage 4 atop Gotthard Pass and moved as much as fourth general earlier than leaping up one spot after taking third on stage 5’s summit end to Carì. He went into the ultimate day, stage 8, holding third place general at 1:51 behind eventual general winner Adam Yates and runner-up João Almeida, each UAE Team Emirates.
However, within the 15.7km race towards the clock from Aigle to Villars-sur-Ollon that included a ten.2km climb that averaging 8.2% the rostrum place slipped away. Almeida gained the stage, with Yates taking second place and successful the general title. Bernal completed ninth at 1:30 again dropping to fourth place general behind Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), who completed third within the remaining stage.
Bernal hasn’t raced on the Tour de Suisse since he gained it in 2019 and stated the race appeared more durable than he remembered however that it additionally supplied some perception into his type forward of larger targets this season.
“It is all the time a tough race, however I feel on this version, we have been going actually quick on the climbs. The stage was tremendous excessive, and for positive, we did good coaching for the upcoming races,” Bernal stated.
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Following a life-threatening crash in early 2022 and return to racing, Bernal’s general situation has improved steadily, with a seventh at Paris-Nice, third place within the Volta a Catalunya – his first WorldTour podium since his comeback – tenth at Tour de Romandie and now fourth general on the Tour de Suisse.
Ineos-Grenadiers have but to announce their Tour de France staff, a race Bernal gained in 2019, however he stated that if he does participate he want to see if an general classification bid was attainable.
When requested the place he will probably be racing subsequent, Bernal stated, “Hopefully the Tour and I feel with the Tour I will probably be completely satisfied.”
‘I do not wish to be somebody who simply finishes within the high 10 in GC on a regular basis’ says Pidcock
Bernal’s teammate Tom Pidcock stated he had probably the greatest time trials of his profession on stage 8 on the Tour de Suisse. He completed fifth on the day, 50 seconds slower than Almeida, and moved to sixth place general.
“It was one in all my greatest time trial outcomes since turning professional, so I may be actually proud of that. Every day, I’ve gotten higher this week. I began off, actually, not good, coming from altitude, and I used to be tremendous gentle, and on daily basis was getting higher. That was my greatest time trial, the numbers have been actually excessive, so I feel I may be actually completely satisfied,” Pidcock stated.
The reigning World Champion, Olympic gold medallist in cross-country mountain biking and former Cyclocross World Champion stated that with coaching, he believes he may additionally win the largest stage races.
“It reveals what, type of, follow does. We’ve had 5 days in a row within the mountains, and every day, I’m getting higher. It’s actually optimistic for me to see.” Pidcock stated after shifting as much as sixth general.
“Of course, I do not wish to be somebody who simply finishes within the high 10 in GC on a regular basis, however it’s definitely optimistic for the longer term.”
Pidcock will now flip his consideration to the fifth spherical of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, which is being held in Crans-Montana, Valais, within the Swiss Alps. He says he’ll keep there till heading to the Tour de France.
“Right now, I’m going to Crans-Montana tonight and I race the World Cup subsequent weekend earlier than going to the Tour. So, I do not go residence. I keep right here in Switzerland.”