Giro d’Italia 2019: Team Ineos and Dave Brailsford left with strategy headache after Egan Bernal injury

It is too short notice to draft in Froome or Thomas, neither of whom are yet in the physical condition to challenge having tailored their seasons to peak at the Tour de France in July

No sooner had Team Ineos masterminded their first win on the roads of Yorkshire, Dave Brailsford was plotting their way out of a conundrum ahead of the Giro d'Italia, which begins on Saturday.

Over the weekend the brilliant young Colombian Egan Bernal – who performed so impressively as a kind of early-stage battering ram on behalf of Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas during last summer's Tour de France, and who won Paris-Nice earlier this season – crashed on a training rider in his home country, breaking his collarbone.

There is no return date set for Bernal, but it is expected that he will be back as part of a three-pronged assault on the Tour. What is certain is that he will miss the Giro and miss out on the chance to contend for a Grand Tour general classification for the first time.

The situation is a tricky one for Brailsford and his fellow Ineos strategists. It is too short notice to draft in either of their two senior riders, Froome and Thomas, neither of whom are yet in the physical condition to challenge having tailored their seasons to peak at the Tour de France in July.

Froome showed some strength in attacking on the Otley Chevin during the final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire on Sunday, while Thomas was over in Switzerland time trialling his way to a creditable third overall in the Tour de Romandie, but the Giro's Grande Partenza in Bologna will come to soon.

There might be a temptation at Ineos to pitch a challenge around the youthful talent of either the 21-year-old Russian Pavel Sivakov or the 24-year-old Londoner Tao Geoghegan Hart, who together pulled off a one-two finish at the Tour of the Alps last month.

Yet history suggests Brailsford is reluctant to throw youngsters into the spotlight. Even the prodigiously talented Bernal took time to earn this kind of opportunity which has now unfortunately slipped away, so instead Ineos might use the Giro as a chance to let their youngest stars race without pressure, giving them the chance to hone their winning instincts on one of road cycling's most prestigious platforms.

The Tour de Yorkshire rides through Burnsall (Emily Schofield)

A perfect example is Eddie Dunbar, who could well be drafted in to the team after his performance in Yorkshire, where the 22-year-old Irishman played an instrumental role in helping his friend Chris Lawless to victory. He could flourish in Italy if he is given free rein to plot stage wins with his team-mates – the chance to ride under the radar might be no bad thing for Ineos's deep pool of proteges still learning the ropes, and there are few better places to make a name for yourself than the roads of Italy.