Egan Bernal: I want to get back being at my top level win the Tour again

Egan Bernal is on his way back to the peloton. After suffering life-threatening injuries in January 2022, the Colombian has since undergone a miraculous and shocking recovery, to return to competition at the Tour of Denmark in the middle of August.

In an interview at Caracol Radio, back in Colombia, Bernal has talked about his return to the peloton last August: “I wanted to see if there was any fear of entering the peloton. In the first kilometers he had a lot of anxiety. After the middle of the race he was normal and that was what I was looking for, not to be scared, or not to be comfortable in the peloton”.

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Bernal's return to cycling was anything but assured even after permanent injuries were prevented. After seven months of physiotherapy and slow steps towards training again, the Colombian returned to racing before all predicted estimates. He stayed in Europe until the middle of September, before returning to Colombian to undergo a surgery on his knee and keep the focus on his recovery from the injuries, before beginning to think of competitively racing for results.

“The ideal is to start my season on the Colombia Tour, but I think it is not yet known if they are going to do it, it will be difficult for them to do it, but if not, San Juan would be an option," Bernal revealed. A start of the season in South America seems to be clearly outlined, with Bernal likely only planning to travel to Europe throughout February or even March, so as to stay home with close family.

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This winter will be very important as he looks to return to a point where his injuries no longer bring him down. He is already thinking of the 2023 and possible goals, however mostly it is just the schedule that he'll be following that's being discussed at the time being.

"I don't know whether to do Nationals, do and prepare well for the National time trial. Paris Nice, Strade Bianche. They are just ideas and everything can change. Normally I like to have a fixed plan and under control, but this year it will be difficult because it will depend on how the season goes," he hinted.

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“...I’d be ready to get back into racing in January or February," he continued. "I didn’t expect to recover so quickly and at first, my first thoughts after the crash were just to have a normal life, not to be a pro cyclist again or even ride a bike. Then that second option became possible.

Bernal has revealed however that his ambitions are much higher than just being competitive: "They said I could take it easy, but it was me that said ‘no if I want to get back being at my top level, to try and win the Tour again, I have to start moving again. I live for sport, I live for cycling and it’s me that’s put myself under pressure.”

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"And always assuming everything goes fine, and if I recover the strength I get back fully in my right leg, which was the most affected, I would start 2023 as a normal rider. And I’d like to go back to the Tour," the Colombian shared. “I’ve got eight or nine months to try and do that, and mentally I feel ready for that. In fact, I think the break I had to take this year will help me. So 100 percent I’d like to do a Grand Tour and hopefully that’ll be the Tour.”