In May it was Egan Bernal and the Giro d’Italia, and now with the Tour de France on the horizon, Team Ineos find themselves in the same recurring bad dream, with Chris Froome out injured and the team’s Tour de France plans up in smoke. The quest to join the five-time winners is over – for now at least – and Dave Brailsford and his team have a number of difficult decisions to make.
When you lose someone of Chris Froome's stature, things become more complicated for a team, even one of Team Ineos’ depths of talent and resources. Imagine a boat turning: it’s easy to turn a speedboat but those big tankers have momentum and weight and they’re much harder to alter course.
The structure at Team Ineos and how they go about racing Grand Tours has always been about concentrating on one leader, one plan, one objective. Last year with the victory of Geraint Thomas that strategy was upset but if the Welshman had faltered even slightly then there was always Chris Froome waiting to take over that leadership position.
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Now with everything thrown up in the air, Brailsford and the other senior members of staff will have to find a replacement and also adjust the race tactics accordingly. When they had two riders in the GC battle, they had the luxury of playing both cards and that's something they can't count on if they decide to back Thomas in the same way they intended to do for Froome.
Of course, Egan Bernal could be called upon to fill the vacant place and it's a spot he is more than justified to take, but he may not yet have developed all the strengths needed to be on an equal footing with the defending champion, Geraint Thomas. Climbing-wise Bernal has no problems at all. His positioning in the bunch isn’t too shabby either, especially if he has someone Luke Rowe telling him where to go and when. The only weakness, and it's all relative at this level, is his time trial but remember there's a meagre 27km to cover alone in this year’s Tour. And it's not flat.
Thomas may not be as naturally talented as the Colombian when it comes to climbing but he covers all the other bases, and if he's in the same form as last year then he can climb with the best. His tactical awareness is also excellent, and he obviously has the experience Bernal lacks.
What does losing Froome mean in a wider context?
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/philippa-york-losing-chris-froome-changes-the-tour-de-france-for-every-team
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