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Egan Bernal: a future rival?

It’s not just Froome – due to lead Team Sky for the fourth successive Grand Tour next month despite his on-going salbutamol case – who is a potential barrier to Thomas’ personal ambitions. Team Sky are famous for having multiple riders who could feasibly lead other Grand Tour teams and the rapid rise of Egan Bernal could jeopardise Thomas’ position as the secondary GC rider on the team.

The 21-year-old Colombian is considered one of the biggest talents in the sport and his blistering start to life at Team Sky – he has won the Tour of California and the Colombia Oro y Paz this year, as well as finishing second at the Tour de Romandie – has accelerated expectations. He is​Three years ago Jermain Defoe made the decision to leave Tottenham Hotspur to join MLS side Toronto FC. At the age of 31, some felt that the striker had made the move for an American swansong a little too early, despite his difficult final few months at White Hart Lane, where he scored just once in 14 matches.

Of course, Defoe only spent a season on the other side of the Atlantic before he was recalled to the Premier League by a Sunderland side who have as good an understanding of escapology as the great Harry Houdini himself.

Defoe initially struggled to make an impression at the Stadium of Light, scoring just four goals in his first 17 appearances for the club. But things changed last season when Sam Allardyce