"It's tough to go from being a Tour champion to just settling for following in the gruppetto" - Egan Bernal survives multiple crashes to make it to Paris

A winner of the Tour de France in 2019, Egan Bernal returned to the race for the first time since 2020 this year and despite crashing multiple times, the Colombian has successfully navigated the three weeks of racing to tick another item off his list as his road to recovery continues.

Since his peak days, winning two Grand Tours, Bernal's career was almost brought to an end by a horrific crash. Although he isn't quite the rider he used to be yet and may well never be the same, Bernal isn't bitter, instead choosing always to look on the positive side of things. "When I started the Tour I had no expectations," he told L'Equipe. "I didn't give myself a specific goal because I knew anything could happen. But I think coming here was the best decision possible to take for my future."

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"I'm happy to be able to finish it. This is the biggest, hardest race in the world, and the mere fact I can complete it is a victory," continues the 26-year-old. "I was aware I hadn't had the ideal preparation, but this was the race I had to do to be sure to move ahead. "My team gave me the chance to do it, even though they knew I wasn't necessarily going to be competitive."

Being a vital cog in the INEOS Grenadiers machine at the 2023 Tour de France, Bernal has been key in helping teammate Carlos Rodriguez secure 5th overall. "Mentally I needed to come back to the Tour," says Bernal. "It's tough to go from being a Tour champion to just settling for following in the gruppetto. But I don't ask myself the question of if one day I can win the Tour again. I'm no longer in that state of mind. All that is no longer a priority once you realise it's just life that truly matters."

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