Egan Bernal has revealed that he was distanced during stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia due to a sudden rise in his heart rate on the day's late second-category climb.
The Netcompany Ineos leader was forced to ease up on the Cozzo Tunno climb as Movistar set a high pace. Ben Turner sacrificed his own chances to help pace Bernal back on the long descent to Cosenza. They made the catch close to the finish.
Bernal managed to avoid losing any time at the finish, where Jhonatan Narváez sped to victory, but was surprised that his heart rate rose above 190bpm.
Latest Videos From
"It was a surprise. My pulse was super high," he told Spanish Eurosport, having not revealed the problem when speaking in English.
"I felt like I was going to die," he added, though with a smile on his face. "For more than 20 minutes, my heart rate was at more than 190 beats per minute.
"So I don't know. I didn't even have any pain in my legs, but it was like when you accelerate a car and it's flat out and you're revving the engine.
"I tried to dig in, I did as much as I could but I was on the limit and in the end I had to drop.
"Obviously it's not the best, but we know how it is. Days like that, in my sporting career I've had many of them. I'm not thinking too much about it."
Netcompany Ineos directeur sportif Elia Viviani had previously suggested that Bernal simply had a bad day, perhaps sparked by the rest day.
"I think the day after the rest day is never an easy one because the body switches off a bit, and then this long climb is always a solid one. The high pace from Movistar really put some people on the limit," Viviani said.
Bernal thanked Turner for helping on the climb and sacrificing his own chances in the sprint. Turner finished fourth and was emotional post-stage but understood the team's tactics.
"It's kind of sad because we saw in the end that he can win the stage if he doesn't wait for me. In the end, the team took the decision, and I just want to thank him because without him, I would already be minutes [down] in the GC.
"This is teamwork, and I really hope he can win a stage in the Giro because he deserves it."
Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
