Egan Bernal has switched his plans and skipped the Tour of Norway, to instead race the Criterium du Dauphiné. Having done a recon of the Puy de Dôme climb this Friday organized by ASO, it is safe to say the Colombian aims to be at the Tour de France, but the decision is not yet taken.
"There I hope to experience better where I stand, the great unknown. I want to get back to my best level, but it won't be easy," he says in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. "I have to keep working hard and expect the unexpected. Ultimately, you should always aim for the sun. There can always be setbacks and I have had them. But the body responds well to it and wants to bring back the Bernal of the past. I'm sure that will work."
Bernal has had a good start to the Dauphiné, with INEOS doing a good work in positioning him, and he arrived 21st in the peloton - which lacked a few GC contenders who were caught out in late splits in the peloton. After finishing inside the Top10 in the recent Tour de Romandie and Tour de Hongrie, there are expectations that he rides at a good level in France this week. The time-trial and mountainous stages will provide more than enough terrain for him to gauge himself against most of the Tour's GC contenders.
Among them Jonas Vingegaard. Asked if he compares himself to the Dane and Tadej Pogacar, he replied: "I don't think about that, I focus on myself. I work so hard because I want to be the best version of myself, thinking about others is unhealthy."
"I would like to ride the Tour, everyone wants to do that race. But then I have to be one hundred percent, because if you're not sure if you're top, it's the worst race to race in the peloton. I want to be there, but not at all costs. I'm focusing on the Dauphiné now and then we'll make a decision," he concluded.
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