After Egan Bernal's absence, Ineos reveals its leaders for the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia

In the absence of Egan Bernal, the best of its competitors in recent years, Team Ineos Grenadiers gave a glimpse of what his key card will be in the face of the Tour de France, which the Colombian would attend if he had not crashed in Gachancipá.

Rod Ellingworth, the director of the British team, reported that he will bet on Adam Yates as kingpin in the gala round, although the rider who arrived in the squad as one of the renowned signings in 2021 is not dismissing as perhaps expected. He didn't, for example, in the last edition of the Vuelta a España, when he was top 4 in the overall standings.

Although Ellingworth did not refer to Geraint Thomas, it is no secret that he will be the other leader in the Tour de France, given his seniority, his technique in the time trial stages and his good physical condition on the mountain days. Of course, what weighs the most is that he was already the winner of this competition, in 2018, a year before Egan Bernal. What weighs against him is that, since then, he has not dazzled, sometimes due to accidents during the competition, others perhaps appropriate to his age (35 years). His most recent title was the Tour de Romandie 2021.

Against Yates, as with the Colombian climbers, he plays against which he does not shine in the clock, although in the mountains he stands out for his explosive attacks. Now, well, for the time trials, Team Ineos has experienced riders, such as the Italian Filippo Ganna, double world champion in this category and good friend of Egan.

“Ganna is aiming for the inaugural time trial and the first yellow jersey in Copenhagen,” Ellingworth added. It is worth remembering that the first day of the Tour de France will start from Denmark in the 2022 edition.

As for Daniel Felipe Martínez, another of the team's good climbers, perhaps the best this moment, since he was top three in the two World Tour races he participated in this year (Vuelta al Algarve and Paris-Nice), it is speculated that he will be the luxury gregarious of Yates and Thomas. He, however, would seek to be capo ranks, which is why he could reach Bora-Hansgrohe in 2023, where he would be given the opportunity.

In the Giro d'Italia, the first big one of the year, the one chosen by Ineos Grenadiers to win the maglia rosa will be Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, champion of this event in 2019, and gold medal in the cycling route category at the Tokyo Olympic Games. In search of the feat, he would be accompanied by Australian Richie Porte and British Tao Geoghegan Hart, who won first place in 2020.

“We will continue with Richard Carapaz for the Giro d'Italia. It's a race that suits Richard quite well and that's why he wants to focus on the Corsa Rosa,” concluded Rod Ellingworth. If you win, it will be the fourth online title of the squad in this competition.

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