INEOS does not authorize Egan Bernal to go to the Olympic Games! Total commitment to the Tour de France 2024
Cycling
The current cycling season is very special due to the presence of the Olympic Games in Paris, which will be held after the 2024 Tour de France. As is logical, some teams will not allow their riders to participate in the two events due to the importance of the Grande Boucle. This has been the case for INEOS Grenadiers with Egan Bernal.
This Thursday, two days before the arrival of the Grand Départ of Florence, it has been confirmed that the British team has denied Bernal the authorization to compete for Colombia in the Olympic Games. The 27 year old rider is part of the star line-up that INEOS is taking to the Tour with the objective of finishing, at the very least, on the podium of the general classification. Due to this decision, the Colombian quota for the Olympic Games will be filled by Santiago Buitrago.
Although it is frustrating for Colombian cycling and certainly for Egan Bernal himself, it is logical that INEOS Grenadiers wants one of its best riders to concentrate fully on giving his all in the Tour de France. In the end, Bernal will be one of the three super domestiques who will help Carlos Rodríguez, the team's leader for the general classification, in the high mountains along with Geraint Thomas and Tom Pidcock, also operating as something of a plan B himself.
Moreover, it is that the opportunity for INEOS to achieve a great result in the Grande Boucle is very clear. Except for Tadej Pogacar, who is perhaps more than a step above the rest of the competition after winning the Giro d'Italia 2024 in a complete landslide and arriving in France in one of the best moments of his career, there are many doubts regarding the rest of the competitors.
Firstly, Jonas Vingegaard will start the Tour de France with no races in his legs after the serious accident he suffered in early April at the Itzulia Basque Country. Remco Evenepoel, meanwhile, did not convince much in the high mountains of a Criterium du Dauphiné won by Primoz Roglic. The Slovenian and Vingegaard himself, who in the end is the champion of the last two editions of the Grande Boucle, seem to be the main rivals of INEOS Grenadiers in the fight for the podium. That's why the British team needs Egan Bernal, who is coming from a great level in his last races, to be 100% focused on the Tour de France.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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❌ Egan Bernal no correrá los Olímpicos. En su reemplazo estará Santiago Buitrago.
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