EGAN BERNAL HAS withdrawn from the Tour de France five days short of Paris after injury wrecked his title defence.
The 23-year-old Colombian had remained in contention until Sunday’s stage on the Grand Colombier, when he shipped more than seven minutes on the unforgiving gradients to tumble out of the top 10 in the general classification.
After Monday’s rest day, Bernal suffered again on Tuesday’s stage to Villard-de-Lans, though indicated afterwards he hoped to ride to Paris out of respect for the race.
But on the morning of Wednesday’s queen stage to the Col de la Loze above Meribel, the Ineos Grenadiers announced Bernal was out of the race.
“This is obviously not how I wanted my Tour de France to end, but I agree that it is the right decision for me in the circumstances,” Bernal said. “I have the greatest respect for this race and I am already looking forward to coming back in the years ahead.”
Bernal began the Tour still suffering with a back injury that forced him to withdraw from the Criterium du Dauphine last month, but had played down the problem until his collapse.
After Tuesday’s stage, he told reporters the pain had spread to his knee and it seemed clear there was little point in him continuing.
Ineos said Bernal will now have a period of recovery before resetting his goals for the rest of the season.
There has been speculation he could now target the Vuelta a Espana, which is due to be Chris Froome’s last race for the team before he joins Israel Start-Up Nation next summer. The Vuelta is scheduled to begin on 20 October.
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Concussion becoming such a massive issue in the game is obviously what this is aiming to combat and rightly so but unfortunately below the waist tackles will completely change the game. Choke tackles along with attempts to rip the ball in contact will become extinct with players facing the fear of being reprimanded for a high tackle. As much as player welfare is a priority, I can’t see this trial becoming law
@S.Leahy: Also is encouraging the tackler’s head to be around hips and knees really such a good idea? Recipe for even more concussions imo..
@S.Leahy: ripping the ball would still be ok….. however I cannot see waist high tackles being introduced. From what I understand, the research shows that concussions are more likely for the tackler than the ball carrier. If the tackler had his head at waist height, he is more likely to end up with a collision with a knee, hip or elbow.
Better coaching of the tackle technique from u7s upwards is the answer to this problem and heavier sanctions in the adult game for dangerous tackle technique.
thats how it was done for yrs ..cheek to cheek is how it was coached
@Paul Ennis: not sure where you are coming from there. If its dangerous to tackle chest and head height which it clearly is then the only option is to tackle waist or down. This is what has been taught all along too the higher tackle is a modern phenomenon.
Furthermore its not dangerous unless tackle technique is poor and you get your head in front of the hips as opposed to behind.
The key thing to all if this is if you have no choice but to take somebody by the legs its much harder to do a dominant tackle as you go with the player when he falls forward.
This in turn will open up the game again to more tries as offloads and yardage will be easier
@Aaron Buckley: I think that tackling has become far more dangerous in the professional era as players have become bigger, faster and more aggressive. The Johnny Sexton / Owen Farrell style of poor tackle technique has also crept in more and more (not helped by the success of the choke tackle).
A 6ft 4 player with a poor technique is going to be far worse off if he is trying to get his shoulders and arms down to waist level…. the chances of his head getting in the way increase exponentially.
We can try to fix the long term problem by reinforcing the coaching techniques at youths (by the way…. In LB Minis above waist tackling is already supposed to be banned).
The short term problem is not so easy and I just dont think this proposal is the answer.
I really like the yellow upgrade to red during the sin bin…. this should eradicate the long TMO reviews while players are standing around watching. If the ref thinks it might be red, he can issue a yellow immediately and ask the TMO to review while play continues. Progressive and fair.
Is it just me or does it sound like rugby league rules coming in? Goal line drop out… 50/22 a little like 40/20.
Seems a bit strange
Not a huge fan of the below waist tackling, maybe a good idea up to u16 or something but most I’m not sure this will do much to prevent head knocks. If anything it’ll encourage guys to get even bigger in an attempt to steam roll the tackler. One of the Scottish back rows, Barclay I think, spoke out against this a few years back saying that the majority of his concussions had come as a result of low tackles – catching knees and hips to the head.
@Jim Demps: totally agree, tackling at the nipple line is about as safe as you can get from the tacklers view point and it allows to wrap the ball. Punish a high tackle and no arms tackling big time but from the belly button to the shoulder should be fair game
@Jim Demps: Lomu was able to steamroll guys because physically he was bigger and more powerful then his peers. That has evened itself out a lot more now in 2019 plus beyond that there is a limit to how big you can get and realistically get around the pitch. Especially in the much faster and open game they are trying to create here.
Tackling around the legs is how everyone was taught growing up. If it’s done with the right technique it’s a safe way to tackle.
The problem is when too dominant a tackle is attempted, its gets dangerous when trying to drive a man backwards. A safe legs tackle in turn will always concede a yard or so as it’s in essence tripping a man up with your shoulder and falling with him.
What implications that has then for the game is another story entirely
@Aaron Buckley: That’s just not true, tackling around the legs is far more dangerous for the tackler in terms of concussions. Safer for the person with the ball, but knees & hips can cause awful damage to the head, even with proper technique as you can’t always predict what the runner will do. Torso tackles are the safest for the tackler but if course run the risk of being too high
As a back I know that we prefer tackling around the chest as it means we can win the ball back and it’s easier. This prevents winning a scrum from a choke or ripping the ball which is a poor move. Only good thing I can see from it is offload game will get better
If you can only tackle below the waist, how do you defend against a pick-and-go from the base of a ruck where the attacking player stays at a crouch? Obviously you could tackle low from the side but a tackle from the front it would be nearly impossible without making some contact with the head/shoulders area.