Some brilliant performances from the Grenadiers on the queen stage #VueltaSJ2023. @GannaFilippo comes home second after an epic uphill TT pursuit at altitude. @Eganbernal worked hard to help and comes home fourth himself 👊
"The recovery is going very well" - Egan Bernal gets big motivation boost after thriving up Vuelta a San Juan mountain finish
CyclingSaturday, 28 January 2023 at 14:30
It has been one year since Egan Bernal has had a terrible accident, but the Colombian has last night raced for the victory of a pro race once again. He finished fourth in the queen stage of the Vuelta a San Juan, a performance that assures the INEOS Grenadiers rider that he has been able to recover from his injuries.
“We are happy, we always want more, it is in the essence of being human to want a little more and, when you see the race so close, much more. This fourth place gives me the motivation not to relax and to know that the recovery is going very well," Bernal said in a post-race interview.
INEOS were quick to take responsibility after Remco Evenepoel attacked in the early slopes of the Alto Colorado, but had no match when Miguel Ángel López launched his attack. The team had a block assembled, and Bernal set off on a chase, pacing a reduced group with Filippo Ganna in the wheel.
"We expected it. It can be seen that he is very well, he looks good physically, he is very well," Bernal commented on his compatriot López. "It was a very important race for him so we knew he would go for it, super happy for him, Team Medellín is very brave.” As Ganna made his move, Bernal could ride the wheels of Sergio Higuita and eventually climbed to fourth on the day, ahead of many other top climbers such as Evenepoel and Martínez.
Despite having quality climbers in the ranks such as Bernal himself and Daniel Martínez, the British team opted to ride for time-trialist Filippo Ganna. Despite the suiting gradients, this came as a surprise in a Top10 filled with climbers. “The truth is that yesterday he told us that he was motivated, that he wanted to treat the general and we were surprised because earlier he had said that he wanted to work for others," Bernal explained.
"But when a top-class rider says so, it's because he has legs. We have planned it well and for him to prove once again that he is a star racer," he concluded. The duo enter stage 6 in second and fourth places respectively, with the overall win still possible if the wind keeps making it's presence felt.
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