One of the abiding images of WTCS Yokohama was that of Leo Bergere clamped onto Hayden Wilde’s wheel and then feet during the bike and run.
For much of the race, the two stars of the men’s World Series went toe-to-toe in their quest for the world title. Ultimately, however, when Wilde made his crucial surge on the run Bergere could not go with him.
After suffering from a slight cramp on the run, Bergere slipped back into the chase group and had to settle for 5th place. Having also finished 6th in Abu Dhabi, he now sits in 3rd in the Series standings. At this point in the season, it is too soon to surmise entirely where everyone is at and how the rest of the year will unfold.
At the same time, there are a couple of questions that have emerged for Bergere.
While 5th and 6th place finishes will not sink his world title hopes, they are not quite the currency he needs to compete with the likes of Alex Yee and Wilde. With two medals, Vasco Vilaca has also stolen a march over him. The temptation would be to say that Bergere needs to react, to try to change something, to force the issue.
That, however, might just be the problem.
At both WTCS Abu Dhabi and WTCS Yokohama, there has been a degree to which Bergere has looked like he is trying too hard. On the bike at both races, he made prominent drives off the top of the front pack against groups that were far too big to be overcome. On the one hand, such moves can work. Jumpei Furuya showed that at WTCS Cagliari last year. However, Bergere is the world champion. The field knows what he can do and will not let him escape so easily.
For better or for worse, he will be a marked man on the bike.
He has tremendous strength in the second discipline yet it seems he is putting a few too many eggs into that basket at races, so to speak, without getting the rewards.
Bergere should not panic. Nor will he in all likelihood. He did almost everything right in Yokohama. His swim was great as he found the perfect slipstream in Márk Dévay. On the bike, he was well-positioned throughout and kept tabs on Wilde. Then on the run, he looked in complete control until the key moment.
Therein may lie part of the problem. Bergere’s sole WTCS win came from a spectacular breakaway in the most dramatic of fashions. Ostensibly, he also does not have the foot speed to beat the likes of Yee or Wilde in a 5km shootout over the Sprint distance. Perhaps there is a degree to which he feels under pressure to force more dramatic breakaways in pursuit of further victories.
From a purely external perspective of his racing, it looks like he is forcing such attacks a little too frequently. At WTCS Abu Dhabi last year, the breakaway unfolded naturally out of the swim in a way that it did not in Yokohama. Equally, at WTCS Leeds last summer, Bergere managed to make a breakaway stick after launching a decisive attack once.
Part of the problem may have been the absence of Vincent Luis. After all, Luis was a handy lieutenant in both Leeds and Abu Dhabi and made his own breakaway stick in Bermuda. Now out with a hip injury, Luis will not be able to collaborate with Bergere in Cagliari and potentially the races beyond.
At this stage, Bergere’s approach has put him in a position to medal at both races this season. Yet he has come away empty-handed. The answer might just be a slight shift in his mindset to permit himself one attempt to get away, maybe two, before settling in to corral his strength for the run.
No one can be a hero at every race. The sight of Bergere crushing his pedals with forty men on his rear wheel might be one that has to be reduced going forward.
The season is long and he has plenty of time to earn the wins and medals he needs to defend his world title. To do so, the key might be simply to relax.
