"The numbers are better than before my crash" - Egan Bernal finally back to his best after years in the wilderness

Egan Bernal is slowly getting back to his top level after years spent in the wilderness of recovery from his horrific crash. According to the numbers at least, Bernal might even be even better than ever before.

"I wake up every moment with the aim of becoming the best," Bernal says in conversation with Wielerflits following a bright display on his Liege-Bastogne-Liege debut. "I don't know if that will be possible again, but it is my motivation to train every morning. I often think about winning the Tour de France again or becoming number one in the world. It is my personal goal to achieve that again.”

"Looking at my data now, the numbers are better than before my crash," Bernal continues. Just because the numbers are back, doesn't mean he's immediately going to get back to winning Grand Tours though. "The sport has evolved. You need to make progress every season in order to be among the best. Since this month I really have the good feeling back."

“I was especially surprised at the beginning of the year, when I finished on the podium in O Gran Camino. That only gave me extra motivation to keep working hard. This was followed by Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya, and only afterwards did I have a month of heavy training," the Colombian concludes. “I can now handle a lot more training work. At times last year I was unable to do normal training weeks, still due to the consequences of that conscious fall. This year I can finally handle my normal training load again , and that feels good.”