🎥 This nasty crash cost Bernal a lot of time in the time trial — INEOS sees an opportunity to make up time the next day

Bernal dropped four places in the standings after his disappointing time trial, falling from seventh to eleventh. He now trails pink jersey Isaac Del Toro by 2 minutes and 33 seconds. Arensman is now six seconds ahead of the Colombian and sits in tenth place overall. “It was a tricky time trial, but I’m happy I stayed upright and made a solid move in the GC. On to the next stages,” said Arensman.

The former Giro winner looked frustrated as he crossed the finish line in Pisa. “I crashed at the start of the time trial, so yeah, that is normal, right? It was tough. The conditions were the same for everyone, but it was very slippery. I don’t even know what place I finished in yet, so I can’t say much about that,” Bernal told Eurosport after the stage.

At first, Bernal’s crash wasn’t shown on camera, but later (amateur) footage surfaced on social media. While exiting a corner, the Colombian lost control of his time trial bike and took a nasty fall onto his left shoulder.

Bernal slid a long way across the asphalt toward the barriers. After calmly getting back on his feet, he continued the stage. However, he had to do so on a spare bike, as the one he started with was no longer usable.

Despite his crash, Bernal still managed to put in a fairly good time trial, though he couldn’t yet say how much the crash had affected him. “I finished on adrenaline, so I’m not really feeling the effects of the crash yet. Hopefully, it won’t be too bad. I’m more frustrated about the time I lost. As we’ve seen again, anything can happen. We’re taking things day by day, so I’ll only start thinking about the next stage once we’re back at the hotel.”

On Wednesday, a tough mountain stage is on the menu, featuring the brutally steep Alpe San Pellegrino. INEOS might have a shot at gaining back some time with Bernal and Arensman. “Wednesday’s stage could be an opportunity, because the San Pellegrino is one of the hardest climbs in this Giro. So, let's see how the other teams react. Obviously, other teams also lost time today, and we'll just have to read the race and see what our best course of action is,” said team director Zak Dempster in a team video.

The team boss also gave his analysis of the time trial: “Joshua gave it his best, and in the end, there was one guy better. Egan crashed a few kilometers in, on a slippery corner, and I think he managed his losses really well. Thymen has done another good stage today. And as we all know, Thymen is better in the second half (of a Grand Tour, ed.) than he is in the first half.”