"I thought about retirement " - Egan Bernal admits he was on the verge of ending cycling dreams

Egan Bernal suffered life-threatening injuries just under a year ago. In a recent interview he admitted that he was close to retiring and the struggles and positives that came from the crash.

"I thought about retirement but when I saw how people managed to turn things around, that motivated me," Bernal admitted in an interview with AS. "It might sound odd, but at this point in time I think the best thing that could have happened to me was the accident itself. It was very tough.”

On the 24th of January 2022 Bernal crashed at around 60Km/h against the back of a stopped large vehicle. This was due to his specific time-trial training which saw him distracted. He suffered dozens of fractures including life-threatening injuries to his upper body and was in intensive care for several weeks.

Although it seemed unlikely at the time, what followed was one of the most spectacular recoveries in pro cycling. Every step of the way the Colombian returned to being able of taking care of himself, back on the bike, back to training, and back to form that was good enough to compete against World Tour riders, just seven months after his accident.

“It sounds obvious, if I could turn the clock back it would be better that it didn’t happen, but once it did and I’m here where I am a year on, I think it was one of the best things that could do. I got to be closer to my family, to God, I met some very good people and that’s all thanks to the accident," he explained.

His family and friends helped Bernal return to his best self once again, and after an incredibly challenging year, he's looking to leave the crash behind and begin focusing on returning to his best level and winning races in 2023.

“When I have my children and grandchildren I will tell them that dad was nearly killed when he was 25 because he crashed into a bus, and that way they can understand that even when things are bad, good things can happen as a result," he added.

Bernal will race the Tour de France this season as his main goal. He's been building up over the winter with his traditional long rides in Colombia, and will start his racing schedule already next week at the Vuelta a San Juan where he will face Remco Evenepoel and compatriot Miguel Ángel López.

“What I want to show is that if you set out to do something then you have to fight for that and keep pushing no matter the odds. It’s been a very complicated process, months of work behind the scenes, getting up and starting from scratch."

"Learning to clean my teeth, to eat, all those small steps you have to take and which were very tough at first, but which we could do thanks to passion and determination and which I could do," he concluded.

“It’s true that when I fell I received numerous messages and during the season many riders you have named kept on writing to me. They showed me that respect. If this were to happen to one of those riders you named, I’d be super concerned because it is so hard. And that’s what I take away from all this - the respect others have shown. Some people think there’s a lot of rivalries but on the contrary, we live in Europe and when our paths cross we sit down to have a beer together.”