Rod Ellingworth, assistant director of Ineos wants Egan Bernal to have no pressure from the team to take on the challenges of the season. That is why he was clear and ruled that for now, “nothing can still be said about the Tour. It is totally open”, regarding the participation of the Colombian in the French competition that will begin on July 1. For the British, it is Daniel Felipe Martínez who aims to be the leader of the squad in the Grande Boucle.
“Dani is our main focus for the Tour at the moment (…) With Egan, I’m not putting any expectations on him at all. I think it would be unfair. He will have his own expectations because that’s how motivated he is. But nothing can be said about the Tour yet. It’s totally open,” Ellingworth told cyclingnews.
The deputy team principal assured that what Egan has done after the accident is to be praised, but it is clear to him that no matter how much the Colombian desires to return to compete soon, sometimes they must control them and ask them for patience despite the frustration they feel. “He’s frustrated, he’s desperate to run. But you have to be strong with these guys because they always want to push. Last year, Egan wanted to go back earlier, but we stopped him. Sometimes you have to stop them.” Rod added.
Egan Bernal advances in his recovery
A knee blow in the Vuelta a San Juan has prevented Egan from participating in two of the competitions he had on the calendar (National Road and Vuelta a Andalucía), the Paris-Nice would be his next race (5 to 12 March), but for now it has not been confirmed. According to the team, they don’t want to take any risks with his return and that’s why they take it easy.
“This little problem has nothing to do with last year. It’s just a bruise around the knee. We just don’t want to take any chances with him.”said the deputy director of Ineos.
Finally, he highlighted the professionalism that Bernal has had. “You can’t criticize what he’s done. It’s pretty great where it is. He sends me videos and updates of what he’s doing in training and to be honest, he couldn’t be doing more. We are running with him.” , giving him every chance, supporting him 100%”.