2019 Tour de France winner Egan Bernal has recognised that when it comes to competing against Tadej Pogačar, the Slovenian’s crushing superiority can be frustrating for his rivals, but acknowledged that it also has a positive side.
After his appalling training accident in January 2022, the Ineos Grenadiers star has accelerated his return to Grand Tour contention this year, taking seventh in the Giro d’Italia and a stage win in the Vuelta a España. He also finished eighth in Il Lombardia, his first top ten in a Monument since he finished third in the same race back in 2019.
However, Bernal told the Despierta Win programme in Colombia that when it came to trying to beat Pogačar, the four-times Tour de France champion was so superior that at times it could be tough, psychologically, to handle.
“He’s on another level. When you race against him, very often he makes you see that you’re going badly [in comparison], it makes me cross: there you are giving it everything and just like that – he blasts away from you.”
At the same time, Bernal took the positive element from it, saying, “It’s great to race against him. He pushes the rest of us to improve. It’s great that we’ve had the chance to compete in the ‘Pogačar era.’
Bernal was his usual upbeat self about his own chances, in a year which began with victories in both Colombian National titles – his first wins since 2021 – and continued with a return to the top ten in a Grand Tour in Italy.
Bernal said it was hard to say how much his terrible 2022 training accident affected his progress, given he was already racing with a bad back. However, although it caused him problems – notably in the 2020 Tour de France, where he was defending champion – he could then go on to win the 2021 Giro d’Italia.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…