Egan Bernal lost time to his main rivals on stage 13 of the Tour de France despite saying he was doing the best power numbers he has ever done.
However, he said if other riders were better there was nothing he could do except seek to spread his effort evenly on the race and see what the coming stages bring.
Bernal had been going well after racing resumed following the Covid19 lock-down, winning a stage and the overall at La Route d'Occitanie.
However, he was beaten to overall victory at Tour de l'Ain by Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma); finishing 2nd to him on GC and also 2nd to him on two stages.
At Critérium du Dauphiné Bernal crashed on stage 3 and did not start the following day, though his Ineos Grenadiers team already looked second best to Jumbo Visma.
Advertisement
And while he has looked laboured at times on the Tour, he said when he lost 38 seconds to Roglic and Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) on stage 13 there was nothing wrong with his own performance.
"I’m looking at my numbers and I’m doing some of my best numbers. If the others are stronger, I can do nothing. I don’t know, we will see what happens," he said.
Related News
"I actually felt good. I tried to do my best but they were stronger than me. I could do nothing. But actually, I was feeling good the whole day. We need to see what will happen in the next days."
Bernal, 3rd overall to Roglic at 59 seconds starting Sunday's stage 15, showed he is still in the race with a late attack yesterday. Though it came to nothing, it was a reminder if one were needed that he remains a serious threat.
Before he left the race after sustaining a concussion and small bleed on his brain during a stage 13 crash, Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) also said his performances were the best they had ever been.
"I'm doing performances that I've never done in the past. I'm breaking records. So the form is very good but the level is ultra high."
Topics
