“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.