Egan Bernal will be one of Team Sky's cards to win the Tour de France

Next Saturday July 7 will begin the 105th edition of the Tour de France, in the town of Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, where several Latin American cyclists will seek prominence. One of them is the Colombian Egan Bernal, who will wear the colors of the powerful Team Sky.

Bernal is already on the radar of the World Tour, after a season 2018 full of victories. Bernal prevailed in the Colombia Oro y Paz, the chrono of the National Road Championship, the Tour of California, the category of young people in the Tour Down Under, and in a stage of the Tour de Romandía.

Leer en español: Este es el ciclista colombiano que reforzará el equipo de Chris Froome en el Tour de Francia

The Colombian arrived in 2018 at Sky after spending two years in the Italian squad of Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec, and the British are already happy with their hiring. According to Dario Coini, one of the Sky technicians affirmed, in statements given to El Tiempo, "it is amazing what he has done (in the Tour of California), in the Sky we are sure that we have achieved the best signing this year."

 

A shared publication by Egan Bernal (@eganbernal) on May 18, 2018 at 5:54 PDT

Sky goes further and not only believes that Bernal is in the team to win a World Tour race. The long-term goals of the team are focused on Bernal winning the three major cycling of the world: Tour of Italy, Tour de France, and Tour of Spain. The ambitious plan was revealed by Xabier Zandio, sports director of the squad, also in dialogue with El Tiempo: "He has shown that he can be a leader. We register a young person for that, to prepare him, he has quality and although he must improve a lot we work for that. He is a runner for three weeks, a great long distance runner."

For these and many other reasons, Sky decided Bernal to be co-driver of Chris Froome in the highest competition of cycling. Sky must decide quickly because it takes less than a week for the start of the French competition. The English squad is clear that the Colombian can do everything: to help the current champion of the Tour of Italy to get around the best form of the mountain, or even to win the competition, in case Froome cannot perform as he should because of the effort in the last 'Corsa Rosa'.

Also read: Latin America threatens Europe in cycling: the Colombian Egan Bernal surprises with his talent

In declarations obtained by El Espectador, Oli Cookson, one of the strong men of the Sky, affirmed that Egan "leads the new generation of Latin American and Colombian cycling".

Faced with so many compliments, the Colombian prefers to stay calm and put his feet on the ground. "The important thing is to be calm and be aware that they are just in a stage of growth. It is true that I had a good season, but I must be clear that the road is long and not everything is over when you reach the finish line of a race" the 21-year-old runner told to the official website of the Colombian Cycling Federation (FCC).

Being still very young, Bernal already lives a stage of triumphs and recognitions. However, the upcoming Tour de France will be a good thermometer to know what he is made of. Already Nairo Quintana surprised everyone in 2013 when he finished second in the general classification as the best of the young and champion of the mountain despite being an "unknown" in the global cycling. Will Bernal achieve something equal or better?

LatinAmerican Post | Yeinson Fajardo Bohórquez
Translated from “Este es el ciclista colombiano que reforzará el equipo de Chris Froome en el tour”