Should Egan Bernal swallow his pride and retire

[wakemalcolm]

It's contract renewal year for Egan and unless you've got a fetish for having your sponsor's colours obscured by the Columbian jersey, I can't see the offers matching the expectations set by his historical palmares.

The distribution of his points haul also suggests a long declining end tail.

Maybe there'll be a mountain domestic flourish to the end of his career. Maybe he'll become a mentor for Noval.

Hope he gets to operate on his own terms.

 

[Pblakeney]

Just goes to show that anyone's career can be (effectively) ended by a single crash.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have seen a few top sports people who just keep going on and on

and sometime people comment that they should retire

But I saw an interview once with an ex England rugby forward - one that was always in the thick of it

and he was playing for his clubs 5th team many years after his International career finished

he said he still enjoyed playing so he kept playing
just at a lower level

I remember my Mum saying that her Uncle (I think ) played Water Polo for England and just kepy playing
but stopped when he realised that the temptation to "play dirty" got too strong
he said he had see olderplayers that just got dirty to keep winning and he refused to go that way

I suppose it depends on your mind set

Just remembered - saw a few seconds of an interview with Geraint Thomas a while ago - he said he hasn;t been on a bike in ages!

 

[CarbonClem]

Might there be a scenario where even if he takes a pretty low wage, he'll be earning much more than he might do otherwise? No idea what he qualifications/skills/experience in any other area is, nor the demand for punditry/ds'ing he could provide, but maybe just riding a bike is all he can do ... for now anyway.

 

[matticus]

Just goes to show that anyone's career can be (effectively) ended by a single crash.

Yup.

There was a time he was expected to win 5 Tours. (Froome was a little luckier that he managed multiple wins BEFORE that nasty accidents.)

 

[matticus]

BTW, I don't agree with this phrase:

"swallow his pride and retire"​

To me, swallowing his pride would be admitting that he's not competing for Grand Tour wins any more. (Was there another thread where this MIS-usage cropped up?!?) Semantics, I know!!! xxx

 

[DCLane]

2026 UCI points: 1177.5

That's still a decent haul for a single rider. Quite a few teams would snap up the opportunity so I can't see retirement occurring yet.

 

[matticus]

But I saw an interview once with an ex England rugby forward - one that was always in the thick of it

and he was playing for his clubs 5th team many years after his International career finished

he said he still enjoyed playing so he kept playing
just at a lower level

I saw a clip recently of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_James_(footballer,_born_1970) scoring a goal for a Sunday league team!
There's nothing stopping athletes enjoying their sport forever. Except their minds, it seems ...

 

[phreak]

It would be lovely if he could have a Carapaz-style end to his career.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Just remembered - saw a few seconds of an interview with Geraint Thomas a while ago - he said he hasn;t been on a bike in ages!

Yeah, I fear for G. Am worried that he'll end up the size of a house now that all year's the off season.

 

[wakemalcolm]

It would be lovely if he could have a Carapaz-style end to his career.

Would be nice but Carapaz has been a fox all of his career. Just don't see the tactical nouse from Egan.

 

[Pblakeney]

It would be lovely if he could have a Carapaz-style end to his career.

It would be lovely but I think he's given it a go and came up short.

 

[Drago]

I used to enjoy his restaurant reviews.

 

[phreak]

Would be nice but Carapaz has been a fox all of his career. Just don't see the tactical nouse from Egan.

Yeah, it's certainly easier said than done. He's done okay in one day races in the past, with good finishes in Strade Bianche, LBL, Lombardia, and dell'Emilia. He's not a complete Froome or Vingegaard who seem to rely on their physical gifts.

 

[CarbonClem]

Yeah, I fear for G. Am worried that he'll end up the size of a house now that all year's the off season.

I'm never sure about these statements. Certainly on The Tour he was reccing the TT with Ganna, out riding with SDB etc. I reckon they play it down a bit or maybe lose some perspective on normailty regarding bike riding?