Egan Bernal, leader of the Ineos Grenadiers (open in new tab), admitted that his back (open in new tab), injured in last month's Criterium du Dauphiné, is still affecting him.

The defending Tour de France (open in new tab) champion heads into Saturday's Grande Pearl as one of the favorites to win, but with Jumbo-Visma in good form in recent weeks, the Colombian rider is still on the road to best form.

"As for my physical condition, I think I'm doing much better. I still have a little bit of pain in my back, but compared to the Dauphiné it's much better, so I hope it will get better as the Tour goes on," Bernal said at Friday's pre-race press conference.

"To be honest, I still have a little bit of pain in my back, but it's much better than in the Dauphiné. The pain in the Dauphiné was really bad, but the last few days it's getting better and I'm feeling better. I want to work on my back throughout the Tour, especially in the last week."

Bernal left the Dauphiné with two stages to go and was in seventh place overall at the time. His main rival in this year's Tour, Primoš Roglic, attacked him several times in the first three days, but he was unable to answer.

Eventually, Roglic had to leave the race in a crash, but the Dauphiné was a good example of Jumbo Visma's strong performance over the past few weeks. Bernal eventually lost time on the third stage as he tried to put pressure on his rivals.

"I think it's a really strong team," Bernal said of Jumbo Visma, which features 2017 Giro d'Italia winner Tom Dumoulin.

"Definitely, they will be one of the favorites to win. In the past, Primozh was the strongest in the race. I think he will be one of the favorites to win, so we have to be really careful with him and also with Tom Dumoulin.

"This is good for the race. It's also good for us Ineos. Not only Ineos, but they will have to take responsibility, as we have seen in previous races. It's good for us to be in the GC contention with them."

What is different this year is not only Ineos' status as a contender. Their lineup does not include Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas. Instead, Richard Kalapas will be used, and newcomer Andrei Amador will make his Grand Tour debut. The team will also race without Nicolas Portal in the director's seat. The Frenchman tragically died earlier this year, but had played a key role in the team's success over the years. [With Nico gone, we won't be able to hear him trying to speak in Spanish or English, especially on the radio. It's really strange, but we want to do our best to make things really work out for him. I want to get a good result for that," Bernal said.

Regarding the composition of the team, Bernal acknowledged the changes in the registered members, but stressed that despite the changes, the philosophy and culture within the team will remain the same.

"Yes, we may have four more Spanish-speaking players. We are Ineos, we are an English team. So the mentality will not change and we will not stop being a British team.

"The strategy may or may not change, but it doesn't really depend on the language many of the riders speak.

"In the past with Froome, Thomas and Wiggins, it was more of a ruler type of rider who would make up time in the time trial, whereas in this Tour, I usually close the gap on my rivals in the time trial. So that might change in that respect, but it's still a British team and the mentality is still the same."

Bernal, who won his first Tour last year in his native Colombia, heads into the race with high expectations. Last year, he was under pressure and focused on taking it one day at a time, but with many of his rivals in great form, the 23-year-old knows that every stage is important and that there is no room for error between Nice and Paris.

"The Tour de France is a good route for us, but it is by no means easy. It's a very hard route, a very complete route, with all the elements: high mountains, windy stages, and a time trial at the end.

"We want to get the best result possible. Right now we have to focus. We have to be at our best for the next 21 days. We want to do things in the best possible way for the team, for our country, and for everyone who needs some kind of distraction. I hope this tour will be good for them."