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Egan Bernal at the Tour de France: The break-in

2020-09-13T18:02:00.536Z


He started to win his second Tour de France at the age of 23. But at the Grand Colombier, reality was faster than Egan Bernal. Team Jumbo-Visma dominates like Ineos once did.


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Egan Bernal: "I think I lost three years of my life on this stage"

Photo: Christophe Ena / AP

The relapse:

When Egan Bernal won the Tour de France in 2019 at the age of 22, he was promised a golden yellow future with several victories at the Tour of France.

This year, however, Bernal will not defend the Maillot Jaune.

13 kilometers before the summit of the Grand Colombier, Bernal collapsed at the high speed of Jumbo-Visma.

Two teammates stayed with him to help, but in the end the Colombian lost more than seven minutes on top.

He won't be able to make up for that.

Resignation:

"I've suffered since the first climb," said Bernal: "I think I lost three years of my life on this stage. I was hoping for a miracle that never happened."

The defending champion's break-in was already apparent on Friday when he lost a few seconds to Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar.

"The others are stronger and I couldn't follow them, we have to admit that," said Bernal.

And Pogacar said: "I suspect Egan Bernal is no longer a rival."

Result of the stage:

Pogacar won the mountain finish of the 15th stage.

After 174.5 kilometers from Lyon to the Grand Colombier, the Slovenian prevailed against his compatriot Roglic in the final sprint, Richie Porte came third.

Roglic keeps the yellow jersey, he is 40 seconds ahead of Pogacar.

Read the stage report here.

The duel:

Pogacar has already won two stages - as the youngest driver since René Vietto in 1934. Pogacar Roglic had already escaped in the final sprint in the Pyrenees.

The 21-year-old seems to be the only driver who can really pose a threat to the man in yellow.

"At the moment Roglic doesn't seem to be stopped," said Pogacar: "But today Bernal broke in and maybe I or Primoz will break in one day as well."

Roglic also expects a duel between the Slovenes.

"I don't think the tension in the general standings is over," he said. "I wish it was like that."

The speeders:

The stage had started rapidly, at the beginning the drivers were traveling at an average of 50 kilometers per hour.

The three climbs on the Colombier went at such a fast pace that the eight-man breakaway group with the German professional Simon Geschke had no chance.

Mainly responsible for the speed: The Jumbo-Visma team.

At the beginning of the final climb, Roglic had five helpers, the Dutch made up a third of the top group.

Only a few top drivers were able to follow.

This dominance was otherwise only known from the Ineos team.

Dress

rehearsal:

Jumbo-Visma's leadership work was perfectly choreographed.

No wonder, because the route with three climbs on the Grand Colombier was already very well known to the team.

At the beginning of August, the Tour stage had already been driven almost congruently in the Tour de l'Ain preparatory race.

At that time, Roglic had won the stage ahead of Bernal and Nairo Quintana.

The two Colombians, on the other hand, could not benefit from their experience.

Fateful swerve:

Only one wrong maneuver can end the Tour de France.

The Colombian Sergio Higuita felt that on Sunday.

He pulled out of a line of drivers to the right and looked back.

But at the same time, the Luxembourg Bob Jungels pulled aside.

Higuita went down and needed treatment.

The 23-year-old initially drove on, but had to give up in tears a few kilometers later.

Black Lives Matter:

Be it in the NBA, in tennis at the US Open or in Formula 1: At the major sporting events this year, athletes and organizers are taking a stand against racism by joining the Black Lives Matter movement.

Only in the Tour de France has so far nothing to be seen.

Kevin Reza, the only black rider in the peloton, apparently doesn't want to leave it at that.

"I'm Kevin Reza, my word doesn't have as much weight in world sport as Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1 or Lebron James in the NBA," said Reza, according to Reuters.

But, "I'm thinking of getting things started to show my support for this movement."

Rest day:

The peloton can recover on Monday.

The mood will still be tense, because the drivers and supervisors will be tested again for the corona virus.

If two tests within a team are positive, it will be excluded from the tour.

The results should be available by Tuesday morning.

Then the next difficult mountain stage with 164 kilometers from La Tour-du-Pin to Villard-de-Lans is on.

Icon: The mirror

Source: spiegel

All sports articles on 2020-09-13

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