Egan Bernal is living proof of improvement. The Colombian cyclist has passed the toughest tests and today he is once again appearing on the international cycling level, although he admits that he still has a long way to go.
Egan, who was already third in February in the Galician event of O Gran Camiño, stood on the podium on Saturday in the penultimate stage of the Tour of Catalonia and defended his place this Sunday against the threat of the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora) and the Spanish Enric Mas (Movistar).
The 27-year-old rider made a masterful presentation in the Spanish race, in which he arrived as one of those called to fight for the title. He didn't catch up to him, but he put up a real fight.
Egan Bernal
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In the last stage, the best Colombian was Sergio Higuita, who arrived in sixth place, with the peloton. While Egan Bernal defended his podium by finishing in box 19 with the same batch time.
“At this moment I know that I am not at my best level or my best version and it was not my goal to even try to continue, I was happy with the podium. It was not easy physically or mentally, after being at the most going up to not even finishing races was hard,” Egan told Caracol Sports.
Egan Bernal on the podium of the Tour of Catalonia
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“Before coming here (Catalonia) I wanted it (the podium), but I saw it far away, now that I was able to do it I say 'damn, I'm there, I'm very happy.' begins and we are on the right track,” he added.
After his accident in January 2022, in which he almost ended up in a wheelchair or, in the worst case scenario, died, the Ineos team rider found himself back in the fight for a stage victory.
He was third in the long-distance competition of the road nationals and fifth in the Tour Colombia. Then, he took third place in O Gran Camiño, in a frenetic fight against Jonas Vingegaard, who was the champion.
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