MinnMan

Apparently he hit a *parked* bus? Broken femur, patella, and more.

https://www.velonews.com/news/road/b...llowing-crash/

There's no way he'll be in form in time for Le Tour. Who is plan B for Ineos? Yates? Carapaz?

diphthong

lost track of all the gc sausage fest guys for ineos. haven't looked at the tdf course yet but the trend has been dipping in regards to tt stages.

if that's still true, thinking ayates and gthom will be support bros and they'll hoist carapaz into the top spot. pretty sure i'm forgetting a gc rider or two...

throw hayter and pidcock in there and you're pretty much set.

**edit** forgot about amador, van baarle, tgh and sivakov (long off-season obvs). any mix of the above mentioned will be formidable. personally, hoping
tgh and sivakov get let off the tour leash and get to target the giro and vuelta. helluva one-two punch. and then you've still got martinez, richie, ganna and
kwiatkowski. thinking yatesie, ganna and gthom target the heaviest tt gt(s).

maybe bernal comes back in time for la vuelta. he's probably better suited for that anyway.

MinnMan

At the moment it looks pretty bad. He's in intensive care, had spinal surgery that they think maintained "neurological integrity", as well as knee surgery and perhaps more to come.

Iride01 

That is really unfortunate for Bernal. I'll wish him the best for his recovery.

As for Yates or Carapaz, I'd almost have to say Yates because he is older and seems to show more ability to temper his use of energy for early efforts of the ride knowing what he'll need for the end. Carapaz just seems to go all out too long and wears himself out before the race is close to the finish and just has enough energy then to make a show for the cameras.

Ineos still has plenty of talent to draw from. To me their bigger issue is whether they'll realize everyone now knows how to defeat what was previously a winning strategy and come up with some new strategy.

diphthong

wow, didn't realize the damage was that extensive. best wishes to bernal on a complete recovery. looks like the entirety of competitive racing is probably off the table for his 2022.

diphthong

is it 7 or 8 riders for the gt's these days? don't remember. anyway, this year's tdf has that opening 13km tt along with a penultimate tt stage of a not insignificant 40km.
haven't seen stage profiles after the most cursory of searches. grrr.
thinking ineos rolls out sivakov, martinez, gthom, ayatesie, van baarle (for the cobbles), ganna, richie and kwiatkowski. maybe richie gets swapped out for a flats/foothills plow horse.

ZHVelo

His season is over. His career may be over even. He is lucky to be alive. Forget the injuries, the trauma on the body can kill someone.

GrainBrain

Yeah I was gutted to read that - he really caught my attention last Giro on the "strade bianca" gravel stage and even at strade bianca. Really great control on the gravel, really really disappointed to see this. "Good news" is the spinal surgery went well, he didn't have any hip or pelvis breakage. If Froome can recover as well as he did I hope Bernal will as well.

How about that mental aspect though? Going to be a long road there - hoping "in my feel good happy world" that maybe he gets some coaching from fellow Colombian Rigo - can't believe he still competes after all the terrible crashes he's had. Carapaz also had a nasty accident a few years ago, good to have that teammate support and advice.

... God knows G could add some insight

I was thinking of Richie Port appearing and maybe contesting the tour for ineos but he can't descend to save his life.

GhostRider62

Lemond came back after a 12 ga shotgun blew his chest apart. That other American recovered from cancer.

The big unknown with Bernal's injury is the extent of damage to his thoracic spine. That he has mobility in all 4 limbs is good news. Based upon what I have read from other athletes with similar/exact injuries, he could be back onto a trainer within 2 months and training hard in 4 months if the femur break was clean. I am old as can be and I broke my trochanter (hip), 5 ribs, scapula, clavicle, humerus in three pieces (compound), and elbow in 5 pieces. I was riding in one month (29 days) and 4 months later, I am still in pain but can ride.

I would not count him out for the La Vuelta in late Summer. I'm praying for him

slcbob

Dios mio. Que lastima. I think the prognostications are uninformed at this point and casual injury parallel comparisons are absurd. I hope he gets his life and health back. Anything else will be gravy. I hope he gets some gravy, too.

ooga-booga , it's been a heckuva winter, no? I think they're still running 8 in a GT team but WTFDIK?

I thought Richie was pulling the plug this year on Le Tour, and maybe on all of it after some early season races. Though perhaps I'm having a senior moment and flashing back to Cadel. It looks like they're having a little Tourito Down Under right now with a few World Tour personalities, but it's not a proper race. Covid and all.

Ineos has plenty of depth. A little light on Slovenians, though. And unfortunately now down a Colombian, too.

Gyro

I knew a guy that road into the wall of the this building head on. I have to idea how fast he was going, the run up to the wall isn't that long. He didn't have anywhere near the injures Bernal has. His crash brought about a complete change in his personally. Had divorced, left his job and moved away within months of his expected recovery time. God know what Bernal will have to go through mentally to come back.

GrainBrain

Not a bad way to start my Monday morning. If Bernal can stand up maybe I too can get off the couch and into work.

HeyItsSara

Terrible. Just terrible!!!!!

MinnMan

Lot's of stories afoot about Bernal's recovery, which seems to be going better than anybody could have hoped. I guess it's possible he could race by the end of the summer. Maybe not in top form, but still, that would be grand....

https://cyclingtips.com/2022/03/ineo...ing-this-year/

diphthong

hoping post #2 still works. would love to see him thrash la vuelta participants. plan for the worst, hope for the best...

GhostRider62

My injuries were pretty severe and I'm three times Bernal's age. I guess my 2 month guess was too conservative. I still would not count him out for the Vuelta.....in 2022. We don't know how much pain and if he can train hard yet

slcbob

I'm glad there's something to gloat about.

I still stand by my point and think arm chair recovery prognostications are Jeanne Dixon material. But she got it right every now and then. May good news continue to flow as Bernal tries to get back on a bike.

Not to be the guy betting on the Don't Pass line and casting a pall on the fun craps table, but right now I'll offer anyone that wants it 2 to 1 odds betting that Bernal doesn't finish in the top 10 of La Vuelta. And hope I lose.

P.S. and I hope your recovery continued or continues so that you're riding without pain, GhostRider62 .

GhostRider62

As the pollyanna here, we should all recognize that even us armchair athletes heal much quicker and better than our armchair ridden friends and family. Someone like Bernal would be off the charts in healing capacity compared to middle aged people who often eat poorly, drink alcohol, and maybe smoke things. Even many Docs don't understand this fact about athlete's healing capacity whether young or old.

A little doubtful of a top 10 but also recognize the peloton will be quite tired at the end of the season and Bernal would be fresh. If I was a betting man, I'd take the 2 to 1 odds, assuming he elects to enter. Let's hope

slcbob

Concur on his freakish powers. Need to be factored in to any guesstimate, as should medical details. And luck/chance.

No "elects to enter" caveats on the bet! Straight up!!

We can PayPal money to GrainBrain for escrow. Too many temptations in SoCal for ooga-booga with that loot burning a hole in his jersey pocket. Nothing in Kansas Iowa to spend it on. Except maybe a ticket to San Diego. Wait a minute. Maybe there's a flaw in the plan.

MinnMan

There are different variables at play, including age, but Chris Froome is instructive here. Another young athlete with superior physiology and conditioning. Probably his primacy in the peloton was already finished at the time he crashed, but since Froome came back he's been not much better than pack fodder.

On the other hand, we have Fabio Jakobsen. Let's hope Bernal's comeback is more like Fabio's than Chris's

GrainBrain

I almost don't want him to ride the Vuelta or any GT right away. Too many stupid crashes, gotta be 100% on top or you get hurt bad, thinking of Valverde last year - that was probably unavoidable. Landa and Mohoric in last year's giro. Ugh that stupid opi/omi sign lady.

I thought I'd absolutely take the money and run, but you know I saw your geographical error and decided to go on my ride before replying - unheard of in our winner takes all world! that makes me pretty trustworthy right? Level headed and all? No worries about Madoff madness ... Plus it's spring and ultra pastoral - Beyond Beethoven

slcbob

That was very fair and balanced of you. And very Iowa to caucus on a ride before casting your vote. Send us your deets so we can start throwing money at you!