"My knee still hurts" - Egan Bernal still recovering from San Juan knee injury and forced to skip national championships

Egan Bernal has abandoned the Vuelta a San Juan due to pain in the knee, and the INEOS Grenadiers has now been forced to skip the Colombian national championships so as to recover from it.

"The truth is, I still don't know. My knee still hurts, so we'll assess the situation and see what we decide with the team," Bernal told Caracol Radio.

Bernal crashed on the opening day of the Argentinian race, leading to some knee pain. Despite this, he raced on and finished fourth in the queen stage up to Alto Colorado, having assisted Filippo Ganna to second.

However on the final day in San Juan he didn't take to the start. INEOS insisted this won't change his plan for the season, however the absence from the nationals sees Bernal end his racing stint in South America. He will be travelling to Europe soon to take part in the Vuelta a Andalucia.