Sports writing, Feb 4 (EFE) .- The Colombian Egan Bernal, winner of the 2019 Tour, will be the Ineos trump card for the Giro d’Italia according to the planning of the British formation, which thinks of Geraint Thomas, Geoghegan Hart and Carapaz for the French race and with Adam Yates for the Vuelta, in a process of “expansion” to aspire to all the greats.
Brailsford, director of Ineos, assures that Bernal needs to “find the joy of competing” while incorporating a new expansive philosophy in the formation.
The two time trials that the Tour includes this year, of 27 and 31 kilometers, are in Brailsford’s eyes a good opportunity for the Welshman Thomas, winner in 2018, with the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz as co-leader and candidate for the yellow jersey in Paris.
Precisely the timed stages represent a good claim for Geoghegan Hart, winner of the Giro, who would close a trident of enormous potential in the Ineos. The Londoner also clearly points to the Olympic test en route to the Tokyo Games.
Although Bernal (Zipaquirá, 24 years old), has not been ruled out for the Tour, his idea is to make his debut in the Giro d’Italia and maybe double with the Tour of Spain, where he could coincide with Adam Yates and the neo-professional Tom Pidcock.
“We asked ourselves: ‘Do we put all of our best riders on the Tour? Or do we distribute them across the big three?’ I think this gives us a good balance in racing, “said Brailsford.
According to the Ineos leader, that Bernal participates in the Giro would mean that the Colombian would have less time to recover one hundred percent from the back injury that forced him to withdraw from the Tour, but at the same time he points out that his desire to go the pink race could bring “a breath of fresh air.”
“When he came to Europe and then to our team, he had a big smile every time he ran. The first thing I noticed with Egan was his big smile, and he was an aggressive and charismatic runner. It is very important that you find that joy from racing. new “.
As Brailsford stresses, it’s about “getting that smile back on your face and enjoying being a cyclist. If you do, you will get the results, but you don’t just focus on the result; you have to focus on the whole process.”
Bernal would be accompanied in Italy by his compatriot Daniel Martínez and by the Russian Pavel Sivakov. World time trial champion Filippo Ganna, who won four stages last year, will also return to the Giro in the rainbow jersey.
For the Tour de France, the Ineos line-up would be completed with Richie Porte, Laurens De Plus, Michal Kwiatkowski, Jonathan Castroviejo, Luke Rowe and Rohan Dennis.
Brailsford referred to the options of the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, who will play his tricks in the mountain stages.
“The best thing about Richard is that he is not afraid to face that race. If he wins the Tour this year, how is he going to win it? He is not going to sit around waiting for the time trials, so he will have to attack in other areas” .
For Brailsford, the 2019 Giro winner “is a really important part of that strategy for us.”
