TOUR de France champion Egan Bernal called for calm at the finish of the Tour de l’Ain despite finishing second to his main Primož Roglič and seeing his team outclassed on every stage of the three-day race.
Roglič finished second, first and first again in each stage to seal the overall title by 18 seconds with Nairo Quintana rounding out the podium.
With the Tour de France only several weeks away, Roglič’s domination—and that of his team Jumbo Visma—stood out.
The Dutch team finished the race with three riders in the top 5 as Tom Dumoulin returned to racing for the first time since last June.
On Stage 3, Bernal had his team set a blistering pace on the approach to the final climb of the Grand Colombier, with Thomas used up before the road began to point upwards.
Andrey Amador, Froome and then the impressive Jonathan Castroviejo all took turns on the front as Bernal looked to put Roglič’s race lead under pressure. But the quartet of Roglič, Dumoulin, George Bennett and Steven Kruijswijk held firm.
Bernal was put in difficulty at several points on the long ascend of the Grand Colombier but he was able to rally towards the end and his attack at least isolated Roglic from the rest of his team. The race leader responded with an acceleration of his own and it was enough to drop Bernal before the line.
“Today we showed that we’re here to ride a very fast pace as well,” Bernal said at the finish.
“We did our race and we should he happy with how it went, not just here but in La Route d’Occitanie. Our big goal is the Tour.”
When asked if he was worried by the performances of both Thomas and Froome, the Colombian looked to ease the pressure on his team’s shoulders. The 2019 Tour winner instead reminded the media that the Tour de France was still several weeks away and that the Tour de l’Ain was only a warm-up race ahead of the main event.
“No, I don’t think so. This is a race to prepare for the Tour. Some other big riders from other teams were also dropped early today. That doesn’t mean that they won’t be up there in the GC at the Tour de France,” he said.
“We need to be calm and to know that we’re just here to train. For sure we want to do good training but they will be there at the Tour de France,” he added.
Jumbo Visma already knows it Tour de France line-up, having announced an eight-man team months ago. Team Ineos, on the other hand, has some key decisions to make, not least over Froome.
The four-time Tour winner showed flashes of form on the final ascent but a sterner test will come later in the week when he, Bernal and Thomas seek revenge at the Critérium du Dauphiné.
As for Jumbo-Visma, it has the momentum, but as Bernal pointed out, the Tour is still weeks away.
Deceuninck-QuickStep doctor Yvan Vanmol, meanwhile, delivered a positive prognosis on the team’s hospitalized sprinter, Fabio Jakobsen, four days after his terrifying crash at the Tour de Pologne.
Jakobsen suffered brutal facial injuries in the crash after being nudged into the barriers by Jumbo-Visma sprinter Dylan Groenewegen at the end of Stage 1. He’s likely to return to racing, though Vanmol said there is “no deadline” for him doing so.
“I have to say that his condition is very good, especially considering the seriousness of the accident he had,” Vanmol said. “Since no vital organs have been affected, we obviously hope for the best. He is also fully conscious. He can’t talk yet but is communicating via text message.”
“We assume that, yes. But I dare not stick to a deadline,” he added when asked about Jakobsen’s prospects of a return to racing.
The 23-year-old Jakobsen suffered a shattered palate and windpipe and broke bones in his face in the crash, later undergoing a five-hour surgery before he was placed in an artificial coma.
Vanmol said that Jakobsen could be transferred to his home country, the Netherlands, at the end of the week, adding that the main remaining concern is over aesthetic and muscular damage to the face.
Jumbo-Visma suspended Groenewegen pending International Cycling Union disciplinary proceedings against the Dutchman, who veered from his line on the downhill charge into Katowice. Cyclingnews