Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) will be at the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné on June 4, in the hope of putting on a good figure to snatch his selection for the Tour de France, which he is still not sure of competing.
Jonas Vingegaard, Jay Hindley, Mikel Landa, Marc Soler, Adam Yates, Enric Mas, Richard Carapaz, David Gaudu, Guillaume Martin… The list of renowned riders who will be at the start of the Critérium du Dauphiné on June 4 at Chambon-sur-Lac is impressive! And Thursday, she saw the name of Egan Bernal added! The 26-year-old Colombian rider, who had suffered a fall on the Tour of Hungary on May 10, which however did not prevent him from finishing in eighth place in the general classification, had decided to skip the Tour of Norway starting this friday, and it is therefore on the Dauphiné, where all the favorites and outsiders of the Tour de France come to prepare (except Tadej Pogacar, of course, still not recovered from his wrist injury suffered in Liège-Bastogne-Liège), that the winner of the Tour de France 2019 will return to competition. Within the Ineos Grenadiers team, Egan Bernal will notably be accompanied by Daniel Martinez, Carlos Rodriguez and Ethan Hayter.
Bernal wants his place on the Tour
Still not back to his best level since his terrible accident in January 2022 which almost cost him his life, the Colombian rider had been slowed down at the start of the season by a knee injury which occurred after a fall on the Tour of San Juan at the end of January. He then abandoned the Tour of Catalonia and finished in an anonymous 92nd place on the Tour of the Basque Country. But the form seems to be coming back little by little, as evidenced by his eighth place in the Tour de Romandie, and therefore in the Tour of Hungary. The Critérium du Dauphiné, an event of a higher caliber, should make it possible to know if Bernal is really back, he who almost looks like an old man next to Tadej Pogacar (24 years old) and Remco Evenepoel (23 years old) now. If he shines on the Dauphiné road, Egan Bernal can hope to validate his place for the Tour de France, which is not yet acquired.
