Egan Bernal sheds six minutes on opening day of Itzulia Basque Country

Egan Bernal has not arrived at the Itzulia in the best possible shape. The Colombian rider suffered a crash in the sixth stage of the Volta a Catalunya which prevented him from preparing properly for the Basque race, following the recovery from his other crash at the Vuelta a San Juan.

In the first stage, which ended on a small climb, Bernal lost contact with the peloton in the finale and lost 6 minutes in the opening day of the race. As INEOS Grenadiers looked to control the race for Ethan Hayter - who eventually rode onto victory in the day - Bernal took up a lot of work, not letting his current modest form prevent him from assisting the team.

Bernal's form contrasts with that of Daniel Martinez, the other Colombian on the British team, who was able to win a sprint over Jonas Vingegaard in the fight for bonuses in the intermediate sprint towards the end of the stage.

We'll see if Egan gradually regains his form in the Basque race. We don't know at this point what his big goal will be in 2023 and it's useless to try to make predictions as long as he can't finish a race healthy and injury-free and as long as he can't gradually catch up with the pace of competition. The Tour de France was his initial objective for the 2023 season but it seems increasingly more likely that he will instead be racing the Vuelta a Espana.