As I mentioned before in several posts (like here ), I think, that this Giro d’Italia was the race, which made Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) a great champion. This was his second Grand Tour victory within two years, but as I mentioned before, I wasn’t really convinced by his performance at the Tour de France in 2019.
Now, of course, everything has changed. Bernal rode a great race, and showed his greatness not only in the results, but in his day-by-day performance.
Let’s see, which were the most important moments of these three weeks.
First stage win (Stage 9)
The 158 km long stage between Castel di Sangro and Campe Felice ended with a mountain top finish on an untarmaced road. The group of the main GC-favourites arrived at this part of the route together, At this point of the race only two breakaway riders left at the front of the race: Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2R- Citroen) and Koen Bouwman (Jumbo- Visma).
500 m before the finish Alexander Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) attacked from the favourite groups. It wasn’t the first, neither the last time, when the young Russian demonstrated, he is not on the level (yet) of a possible/future Grand Tour winner. When you’re attacking the group of GC-favourites, you have to be sure, that you’re stronger than those riders, who are capable to launch a counter-attack.
Well, Vlasov obviously wasn’t, because when the counter-attack came from Bernal, he could only follow him from a modest distance – even Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) was stronger then him.
So, Bernal passed very soon and very quickly Bouchard and Bouwman and won the stage. He also took the pink jersey that day.
Pretty agressive in pink (Stage 11)
Everyone expected an epic stage on the gravels, which was the main attraction of the 11 stage (162 km between Perugia and Montalcino), and we all knew very well, that Egan Bernal loves the withe roads of Italy, as he demonstrated it at the Strade Bianche earlier this year. It was expected too, that Remco Evenepoel (Decenuninck- Quick Step) might feel unconfortable on this unique surface, so it would be worth to try to drop him. The Belgian rider was in the second position in the general classification before the stage only 14 sec behind Bernal, thus he was the main rival of the Columbian at this point of the race. Bernal had already the final ITT in his mind, where Evenepoel would have a big advantage, for sure, which was another important reason, why he and the INEOS team had to find the weakness of the main rival.
And it came much easier, than we might have thought. The INEOS, mostly Filippo Ganna and Gianni Moscon pushed so hard the race on the front of the peloton, that Evenepoel dropped a bit (a bit more every time) on the gravel sections of the route.
But it wasn’t enough for Bernal, who really enjoyed the stage and started to setting the pace himself on the front of the reduced peloton. He was attack-friendly, he was agressive. He took a risk, but of course, only within reasonable measures. And he succeded.
The stage provided not only another good results for the rider in the pink, but also produced some epic images too.
Simon Yates’s first attempt (Stage 14)
The stage up to the Monte Zoncolan was one of the most anticipated stages of the race. Simon Yates (BikeExchange), who lost significant time in the general clasification earlier, was the most fresh looking rider in the reduced group of main favourites on the last few km of the stage. When he attacked he looked much more confident than Vlasov few days before, and yet, Bernal could launch a counter-attack. Not immediately, but he left Yates behind and finished the stage second.
A great champion emerges from the unknown (Stage 16)
The weather used to be the (not so) secret villain of the road cycling races, which was proved at this year Giro d’Italia several times. The fact, that we couldn’t watch the last 25 km of the stage made this day one of the most epic ones of the season.
Like in the good old days before the era of televison broadcast, we learned about the current events of the stage from indirect sources. For a short time we were able to see Bernal’s attack with cca 25 km to go, but at the end, it was a very unusual tension, how it turned out, that it MUST be Bernal the first rider to emerge from ther final corner that was showed by one of the steady cameras of the finish.
Of course, any riders would have arrived first on this epic day, would could have celebrate a great victory. But the fact, that it was Bernal made the moment much more extraordinary.
“The race ends in Milano” (Stage 17)
Everyone has to have a bad (a weaker) day during a three-week race. Even the greatest champions. This moment arrived for Bernal on the 17th stage of the Giro d’Italia. The first stage after the second rest day. Before the race I wrote in a preview about the most important mountains of the race, that this day could be pivotal in the competition for the pink jersey. Especially the Passo di Fedaia and the Passo Pordoi, they are tipically those extreme long monsters in the Dolomites, which could be killing softly someone’s hope for an overal win.
Although I know very well, that there is no “if” in sport (and in history), I still have to mention that Bernal might have had a big luck with the absent of the two beforementioned monsters.
This was a day again, when Simon Yates and the BikeExchange controlled the race preparing for the entire time for an attack on the last climb. Although this chapter of my post is about a weakness of Bernal, yet it’s still about a winning point: a teammate, like Dani Martinez, a superdomestique, who was not just leading, but also trying to motivate his captain during the worst moments.
Simon Yates last attempt (Stage 19)
From a certain point of view it definitelly looked like Bernal learned the lesson from the 17th stage and tried to ignore Yates attack, or even, he tried to turn it to his own advantage. The British rider came closer to Bernal in the general classification, for sure, but still, I think this stage was the stage (and not the peniltimate one), which made clear, Bernal is the winner of the Giro d’Italia this year.
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