"I did the best 40 minutes of my life" - Egan Bernal at his very best level, but 3 minutes behind Vingegaard on the Blockhaus

Egan Bernal has ridden to a results outside the Top20 this Friday on Blockhaus where he conceded three minutes on GC despite delivering, by his own account, one of the best efforts of his career. A strong reminder of the increase in level that the peloton has seen since the Colombian has won the Giro d'Italia five years ago.

On stage 4, the Netcompany INEOS rider was in difficulties on the climb, but was saved by his teammate Ben Turner. However on the first real mountain stage of the race, he was dropped early on, and arrived in the group of pink jersey Afonso Eulálio at the finish. Far from folding after the blow in the Italian mountains, the Colombian appeared before stage 8 with a calm, self-critical tone, and above all convinced that his performance was not as poor as the clock suggested.

“It’s super strange,” Bernal admitted, still baffled by what happened on the final climb to Cycling Pro Net. “All day I felt good, even on the climb I felt very good. I looked at my numbers and I think I did the best 40 minutes of my life, and still I lost three minutes.”

Bernal made it clear the result stung, especially given the scale of the loss in a single day, though he avoided dramatics. “Obviously losing three minutes is not easy, but it’s a long race and today is a new day. You have to approach it with the right attitude,” he said.

Beyond the time lost, Bernal wanted to underline his race management on a day that turned into a real cull among the favourites. The Colombian said he quickly understood his limits and chose to ride within himself rather than blow up.

“I know myself well. I know how far I can go and I know what I can’t do,” he said. “The pace some riders set yesterday was simply a pace I couldn’t follow.”

The 2019 Tour de France and 2021 Giro d'Italia winner suffered a life-threatening crash back in early 2022; and after a very lengthy recovery, he has returned to his best level. However, the same watts that gave him such wins in the past, are only enough for modest results currently.

The 29-year old begins stage 8 in 15th place on the overall classification, whilst his teammate Thymen Arensman sits just ahead in ninth place.