Not so long ago, Egan Bernal looked like being the dominant force in Grand Tour cycling for years to come. Tour de France winner in 2019 and Giro d'Italia winner in 2021, the Colombian has sadly seen his goals significantly adjusted in recent years following a life threatening crash.
In 2024 however, the now 27-year-old has shown the surest signs yet that he is somewhere near back to his best. Podium finishes at Gran Camino and the Volta a Catalunya, plus a 4th overall at the Tour de Suisse and top-10 finishes at the Tour de Romandie and Paris-Nice, Bernal has shown a consistently competitive level so far this year. As such, the INEOS Grenadiers man heads towards the tour de France later this week full of renewed confidence.
“The podium at the start of the season was a nice surprise for me. It motivated me to train even harder,” Bernal recalls of his solid Gran Camino, where only Jonas Vingegaard and Lenny Martinez bettered him, in quotes collected by Velo. “At the end of 2022. I wasn’t able to prepare properly because of the after-effects of the accident and all the recovery and fitness work that I’d had to do. But for this year, in the off-season, I was able to prepare properly. So I’m feeling much better.”
Although it may seem far fetched given all he has been through, Bernal has not given up on his goal of getting back to Grand Tour winning ways. “Every morning when I leave to train, I have the thought of winning the Tour de France again in my head, of becoming the number one again," the diminutive Colombian admits. "I don’t know if it’s really possible, but it’s my primary motivation, my goal.”
Part of a very strong INEOS Grenadiers lineup for the 2024 Tour de France, Bernal joins the trio of Carlos Rodriguez, Geraint Thomas and Tom Pidcock all with potential general classification ambitions.
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