Eoghan Bernal reiterated his claim to the leadership role of Team Ineos at the Tour de France, predicting that "we will see who is the strongest from the opening stage."

Bernal also said that he would like to ride Strade Bianche when the race resumes on August 1, and that he wants to focus solely on the 2020 Tour de France so that he can be fresh for a possible double in the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2021.

Bernal won last year, becoming the youngest winner of the Tour de France in over 100 years, while 2018 winner Geraint Thomas was forced to settle for second place as Bernal was the strongest on the shortened 19th stage, the Col d'Iseran.

Bernal and Thomas will be aiming for the Tour again this year, along with Chris Froome, who will use the postponement of the race to late August to recover from his crash at last year's Criterium du Dauphiné.

Froome and Thomas have publicly stated their desire to win the Tour de France, and Bernal has also begun to battle for the lead after the new race schedule was finalized. Last week, Bernal told Eurosport España that if he were at his best, he "would not throw away the opportunity to win the Tour de France again."

Appearing on Italian television on Sunday evening, he acknowledged Thomas and Froome's claims to leadership, but reiterated his status as a winner in 2019, and predicted that the early stages of the Tour de France in southern France would spark the first internal battle over team leadership He predicted that it might.

If the French government and local authorities deem it safe to hold the race, the Tour de France is scheduled to start in Nice on Saturday, August 29 and in Paris on Saturday, September 20. Stage 4 to Orcières-Merret ends with a 7km climb at 6.7%. Stage 6 to Mont Aigoual has an 11.7 km Col de la Russet, with 2 km near the summit at 11%.

"Without a doubt, this road will be the one to beat," Bernal told the La Domenica Sportiva show via live video coverage from Colombia, where he is staying during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I understand why Froome wants to win his fifth Tour de France. If he wins his fifth Tour, he will be part of cycling history even more than he is now. Thomas has finished first and second in the last two Tours. But of course, I am the last winner of the Tour de France. I am still young, but I want to win my second Tour de France and I am working hard for it. The team knows that and those two guys know that.

"The road will decide, I don't think there will be any problems. The Tour de France is hard right from the start, so we will know from the beginning who is the strongest and who the other riders are."

Bernal recently began training outdoors after a Zipaquila major granted special permission to local professional riders. Colombian President Ivan Duque has extended this permission to all professional riders in Colombia starting today. Bernal plans to return to Europe a few weeks before the August calendar revision begins to avoid formal quarantine issues. He will be aware that Thomas moved from Wales to his base in Monaco today to enhance his training for the Tour de France.

Bernal said he would be discussing details of his race program and preparations for the Tour de France with Team Ineos this week. He had planned to compete in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España in 2020, but has now changed his plans and will only compete in the Tour de France so that he will be fresh for the Giro d'Italia in 2021 and possibly the Giro/Tour double challenge. He has made it clear that he will only compete in the Tour de France in order to be fresh for the Giro d'Italia in 2021 and possibly the Giro/Tour double.

Bernal, who lived in Italy for two years when he first turned pro with the Androni Giocattoli team, is eager to return to Italy to start the 2020 season at the Strade Bianche on August 1.

"I still don't know what my program will be before the Tour de France. Soon I will talk to the teams and coaches to understand what kind of race we will do. I have raced in Italy many times and I know the roads and the race route.

"I want to ride Strade Bianche. I've wanted to ride it ever since I turned pro, but I'll have to see what the team thinks and what they say because they know how to do well in the Tour de France. Yes,

"Before I got the coronavirus I was thinking about competing in the Tour and the Vuelta, but next year I want to compete in the Giro d'Italia, so I'm not sure about competing in two Grand Tours. I have wanted to ride since I was in Androni, and I have raced many times in Italy, but never in the Giro. So thinking about next season, it would be better to ride just one Grand Tour this year to be fresh for the Giro d'Italia in 2021."