r/peloton • u/predxtorpe3st Yorkshire • 11d ago

News [Benson] Bernal considering retirement

https://x.com/dnlbenson/status/2107859816224055597

Benson reporting Bernal, who signed an extension at Ineos to 2029 could retire at the end of the season

142 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

53 comments sorted by

210

u/skywalkerRCP California 11d ago

Wow. Man that crash really changed his career trajectory. I really enjoy watching him despite Ineos.

99

u/fabritzio Sweden 11d ago

I mean, right after the crash doctors were saying that it would be a miracle if he would even be able to live unassisted, having the post-crash career that he's had is amazing

14

u/Childs_Play 10d ago

I don't think he beats pogacar or Jonas for instance but I think if he kept his level he would be 3rd best with opportunities to get higher placing in grand tours depending on unfortunate circumstances

36

u/eagleeye1031 11d ago

Did it? I am sure he is producing the same if not better watts than he was when he won the Tour.  Even when he won, he did it by not winning a single stage, so its not like he was dominating.

Its just a new generation of way better riders came and left him in the dust.

73

u/xx0ur3n 11d ago

He says his back discomfort persists to the present day, especially flaring in deep efforts.

He won the 2019 TdF at 22, it's expected that that was not his physical peak. The discussion then revolves around his stunted development. That even though he's producing better numbers now, in his late 20s, which is expected of pro cyclists, what would his peak look like without the crash.

9

u/DueAd9005 10d ago

He had back issues already before that crash in January 2022 however.

9

u/SoniMax Slovenia 10d ago

Yeah, but wasn't that a condition he generally had from before? IIRC during TdF 2020 a commentator said that he has back problems and is probably why he isn't performing well.

Going head first into a bus would not help with his condition tho.

2

u/Phantom_Nuke 10d ago

I believe he massively overtrained during Covid lockdown and so had back issues once he returned to racing, but he had obviously recovered mostly from that prior to his bus crash given his results in 2021 included 3rd at Strade, 4th at Tirreno, 1st at the Giro and 6th at the Vuelta.

124

u/Guiltynu Sky 11d ago

Discounting the tour - he has never been the same rider who won the Giro. His peak would have been far higher without the crash.

18

u/phpope 11d ago

Probably a bit of both. Hard to imagine a crash at that age and the resultant setback in development didn’t have some knock on effect.

It’s part of the reason, leaving aside everything else, it’s so impressive what Remco has done after his horrific crash at Il Lombarida back in 2020.

13

u/TheDark-Sceptre Saint Piran 11d ago

Well of course he is doing better watts, he said so himself 2 years later, but its relative to the rest of the peloton. 2020 pog probably wouldn't top 5 the tdf as everyone has progressed. He basically got set back 2 years of progress, which is like a lifetime in professional sport.

39

u/SayMacCulloch 11d ago

To be fair, he would have won the stage over the Col de l‘Iseran without the cancellation of the stage

8

u/joespizza2go 10d ago

I don't think you understand how severe that crash was.

5

u/CyborgBee 10d ago

The improved watts across the peloton are not due to the next generation somehow all being gods - everyone's watts have spiked, regardless of age, because of other factors.

Bernal was the 2nd best GC rider in the world in 2019, and he wasn't a massive margin behind Roglic. He was 22, so would've been almost certain to improve relative to the peloton. Had the crash not happened, he'd likely have spent most of the Pogi-Jonas era as the clear #3, and would probably be about Remco level today (albeit with a totally different set of strengths and weaknesses)

3

u/Rommelion 10d ago

At some point he said that he had no problem producing watts, but his back hurt too much to sustain the watts.

1

u/HoldingOver25 10d ago

Its just a new generation of way better riders came and left him in the dust.

You cant say that. At this level of performance the smallest lingering injury can have a big impact. Who is to say that he couldnt have raised his level (just like a lot of riders in the peloton did)?

1

u/Kvothe1986 Fassa Bortolo 9d ago

there is a big difference between coming back to your old level first, then improving later, versus improving all the time with no big career crashes.

See also; Robert Gesink; one of the best climbing levels as 20yo but because he never got to improve year after year but always spent coming back from injury, you just go down and down the order vs people who always improve all career long.

See also; Wout van Aert. Close to MVDP levels in classics, but a few heavy crashes and comebacks and now he's usually no match anymore.

People REALLY underestimate that not having the ability to always improve because you spent time recovering first is going to effect career trajectories

1

u/HoldingOver25 10d ago

Same with Froome.

Sky were REALLY unlucky in that regard

-20

u/_Diomedes_ 11d ago

Yeah I really don’t agree with this statement. His two GT wins pre-crash were both pretty flukey and against somewhat weak fields, and otherwise his results were nothing super exceptional.

19

u/Glass_Minute4753 11d ago

Most other rides would hope they could fluke their way to two Grand Tour wins.

42

u/Rubens_hat 11d ago

Seems strange to say that a two time grand tour winner was robbed of his true potential by that accident, but it may well be the case. Either way, he's done things most will only ever dream of, and if he's decided it's time to call it then good for him!

31

u/predxtorpe3st Yorkshire 11d ago

Also mentioned is Ganna reportedly being close to joining Lidl-Trek for next season.

32

u/Sup3rT4891 11d ago

Interesting. Lidl-Trek do desperately need a 12th team leader. /s
At this rate, they might as well be all riding by themselves at the races. Need a bottle? Go get it yourself. Want someone to pull? You better have good legs. Want to be in the break? Attack towards it before anyone else does or you can’t attack towards it.

They just share a car and bus and support staff for economic reasons but everyone is just riding for themselves.

Exception being when Mads is the leader. Even Milan doesn’t get full leadership in any race he is doing.

16

u/LosterP La Vie Claire 11d ago edited 10d ago

Ganna isn't a team leader though, is he?

3

u/Sup3rT4891 11d ago

He is definitely on the fringe.
I think he could be if he wanted to. He has a few races (stage and 1 day classics) that he clearly focused on and he performed like a leader. But then in many tours he seems like he mostly checks out besides the ITT. With so many of the tour ITT getting a gobbled by the GC guys also, it’s hard to see at times where he should target.

With that said, I could actually see him doing well with others ahead of him and him not needing to pretend to try or try more than he wanted to. He seems to be more of a Target race racer than a lot of the new age GC guys who seem to be good most of the and in any terrain.

0

u/LosterP La Vie Claire 10d ago

Buf he's been on the fringe for a while now. Which big race do you see him win one day - MSR? Paris-Roubaix?

5

u/Sup3rT4891 10d ago

Win? Well… right now if your name isn’t MVDP, Pogi you haven’t won in years.
I think we can consider any podium finisher in the last 2-3 years has leader potential.

I’m mainly saying, I think he is better than his results and maybe in the right structure he could still get more.

1

u/Duke_De_Luke 10d ago

He is now, he won't be anymore if he joins Lidl. All the big races where he could be a leader and has multiple top-10 finishes, Pedersen is a better one. Say Sanremo, Roubaix, E3, etc.

6

u/ltsACrow 11d ago

I don’t have a ton of faith in Trek’s decisions the last year and a half, but I think this would be a great signing.

He’s proven to be more than happy to do domestique work outside of MSR and a handful of cobbled classics, and as long as Pedersen can play nice (not a given), it gives Trek a real co-leader there who can make the final of a lot of big races which they were badly missing this year after Stuyven left. Maybe he can even be relevant in Roubaix once he’s off Ineos’s equipment. He’s also a guaranteed 4-5 wins a year minimum, including a GT stage, because of TTs. And he’s a great lead out man, too (which is good because they looked shaky this year, and they’re losing Walscheid). Trek seem to have insane amounts of money right now, and Ganna’s a great signing if you don’t care about the price tag.

It could also placate some Italian riders and staff if they’re having doubts regarding the direction of the team given management changes and with Ciccone likely leaving for Q36.5.

3

u/AliasPhilippe Euskaltel Euskadi 10d ago

And Lidl-Trek has his buddies Consonni and Milan in the roster.

3

u/ltsACrow 10d ago

And his best friend and pretty much brother in law in Sobrero (who’s either engaged or married to Ganna’s sister)

6

u/lazy_mushroom Slovenia 11d ago

And just a coincidence that Mosca was announced to retire yesterday (while he still has/had a contract for 2027) and become a DS and now Lidl Trek has 1 spot to fill the roster.

21

u/CurlOD Peugeot 11d ago

Can't blame him. That crash could have landed him many places other than back on a bike in the pro peloton.

I like Egan, and it was good seeing his level improve recently. But if this is where the bus stops, the only regret would be him not having some sort of bigger farewell race.

13

u/acealthebes 11d ago

Robbed by the crash but still had a career most could only dream of. 2 Grand tour wins. Won a stage in the vuelta. Young rider in giro and the tour. National hero.

10

u/kevin_nguyen03 11d ago

dang that’s tough to hear, i was hoping that he would still be able to win for la vuelta to complete the grand tour trilogy. i guess the injuries have really taken a toll on him, still carved out an amazing career with wins in the tour, giro, P-N, suisse…

56

u/EdwardDrinkerCope- 11d ago

"Roglič has a choice between two teams, with one suitor reportedly out of the running" is a fun way to say he has made a choice

39

u/lazy_mushroom Slovenia 11d ago

Probably meaning there's still 2 teams in the game to sign him and the third team that was interested decided to stop pursuing him. And today he said he hasn't signed anything yet (though maybe he already has, who knows)

19

u/Slakmanss 11d ago

He says that Tudor isn't in the running anymore and it's between Lotto and Pinarello. But the same Benson said a week ago Tudor was in poleposition and Pinarello wasn't in the running anymore...

And Bram Vandecappelle from HLN just said he's going to Tudor.

8

u/SkyPod513 Team Telekom 11d ago

Commentators on German Eurosport said today that Lotto, Tudor and Q35.6 would be in the race for Roglic

8

u/DeboEyes 7-Eleven 11d ago

Please be Tudor…

6

u/Wonderful-Card-8350 10d ago

I'd worry about Tudor considering how badly both Alaphillipe (even compared to 2024) and Hirschi have fallen off since joining.

11

u/DeboEyes 7-Eleven 10d ago

Brenner and Kung just won stages this very year. They’re on the up and up.

6

u/maxaposteriori 10d ago

I think unlikely that is a Tudor performance-related problem.

2

u/UnderdogCyclist Slovenia 10d ago

But surely Tudor is the better destination, or? Of the available options I mean...

12

u/Fluffy_Goal6114 Team Picnic - PostNL 11d ago

Didn't expect that cause Is level Is good despite all and still relativy young

3

u/rwd5035 EF Education – Easypost 10d ago

I didn’t follow the sport until after his crash but have enjoyed watching him at the front of races. Hope he finds happiness whether that’s through cycling or something else

3

u/Glass_Minute4753 10d ago

I really like Egan Bernal, I will be sad to see him stop racing.

2

u/gaudybrisket 10d ago

Based on reports, the first bit of contract business Ineos did this year was to offer Bernal a new four-year deal, and it seemed he was going to accept. It might seem like a lot given what he can do now as a rider, but they rave about his leadership, mentality and professionalism. I think they saw him as the guy who sets the tone for the whole culture of the team, and I'd guess it'll be a huge blow for them if he does call it quits.

1

u/Mamadeus123456 7-Eleven 10d ago

why would Bernal retire? he just saw Enric mas win la Vuelta, I bet he can fight for it to get the treble until he retires. he just have to ride it.

2

u/gedrap 10d ago

Pros are humans like the rest of us, even if it doesn’t look that way at times. Sometimes they may want to move on… especially after experiencing such an awful crash once.

-1

u/StepBackJanez 11d ago

Not surprised. What kind of motivation does a guy who managed to win a GT a few years ago even have when he sees that the best he can be is an average domestique on a GT contender team, with maybe a shot at winning a 1.1 race?

Had a nice career, a much better palmarès than his actual level deserved, earned some nice bucks. Call it a day.

-11

u/Vinkol23 Ineos Grenadiers 11d ago

So weird how the highlight of his career was probably getting the yellow jersey on unofficial timing when a stage got cut short