Egan Bernal He is working on the 2025 season after the operation he underwent to correct the back pain that has been bothering him for several years.
According to the criteria of
The champion of the Tour de France 2019 and Giro d’Italia 2021 spoke with EL TIEMPO about his year, the goals he did not meet, his goal of winning the Vuelta a España, the only major race he has yet to win, and what motivated him to take part in the Bogotá Cycling Grand Fondo.
What is your analysis of 2024, in terms of sports?
It wasn’t bad. I have my past and I don’t want it to always sound like an excuse, but it was far from what I expected. I started the year with other expectations. I wanted to win races again and between one thing and another things got complicated. I had good podiums alongside Jonas Vingegaardwith Tadej Pogacar, I missed the podium on the last day in Switzerland and was third in Catalonia. I never managed to win that stage or that race that I wanted to win.
Egan Bernal and the fans at the Tour of Denmark.
Photo:
But the year was different compared to 2023…
It was different from last year. However, the Tour was not what I expected. I supported the team in the Tour and it is all a process that I go through. The most important thing is that I enjoy it.
What was your best race?
I don’t know. It’s just that after being where I was this year, feeling like I’m ahead, I don’t know. I have something good about every race. I got my first podium after the accident at the Nationals and I remember that well. You go to Europe and there you have to keep going, I got on the podium with Jonas and it was great to feel like I was ahead, I was third in Catalonia and the whole process went well. I don’t have a specific moment.
The fact that you have the numbers you had when you won the Tour and the Giro, but that you have not surpassed Pogacar and others, does that indicate that it will be difficult to win the Vuelta a España, the only major race you are missing?
I’m even doing better than before, but the others are at a much higher level. You have to know how to interpret what a rider says. It was difficult to win the Tour and the Giro when I was in a good position, so it will be difficult to win that Vuelta. There are no easy races, it is never easy to win or finish a race. The hope is there. For some reason in the history of cycling, few have won the three Grand Tours and that is not easy to do. I always think about winning the Vuelta, it is my dream.
What differences do you find between the Egan of 2023 and 2024?
The more years go by, the more you mature. We are young, I am 27 years old, and I started winning when I was 19. In terms of sport, the change has been enormous between these years. In 2023, I finished the races at the front, I was on the limit, I suffered a lot, but I enjoyed it. This year I already suffered being in front, which is very different. The process is going well, you have to respect the times and do what you can do. There is not much science to this. You have to try to do the best you can. Next year it will be the same, train in the best way, do things well and see where the road takes you.
Is there satisfaction in the team with what you have done?
A year after the accident, I was given my freedom, with the option of being the leader in the Tour. This year, the same. The support I have had from the leaders, technicians, and teammates has been enormous. What one has done cannot
be erased. From now until tomorrow, Pogacar will not win again and he is respected for what he won. That respect continues in the team and the support is very great.
How does it weigh on the group that won everything and has not won again?
We want to win again. It’s not a secret. The team is working to win the Tour and we haven’t done it since 2019. They haven’t been the best years, but we’re working towards that, to improve, to know what we do well and what we do badly. Like all teams, we think about winning and that’s what we’re working on.
How true is it that Pogacar or Evenepoel could join Ineos?
I have no idea. It’s normal. Even about me there is talk that I’m leaving, that I’m staying and in the end nothing is said. Until it is confirmed, there is nothing. Well, any team would like to have Pogacar, but I have no idea about that.
Do you have anything planned for 2025?
2024 is not over yet, but I would like to do the national championship, I have missed out on winning it. It is one of the races I definitely want to win, it is to wear the national champion’s jersey for a year and I want to do that before I retire. There are many options for various races, but that depends on what they tell us, on the plans and the form of the rider.
Egan Bernal
Photo:
During the Vuelta a España there was a controversy and it was said that it would be better to have it held again in the first half of the year. What do you think?
It has been like this for many years. For a rider, yes, it is quite hot, it is not healthy, but cycling is not very healthy. The same can be said of the Giro, it is very cold and there are stages that are cancelled. It is part of cycling and these are decisions that are made and are not in our hands.
Why the grand fund?
I lived many years in Zipaquira. Bogota I was scared and I didn’t see myself living here. When I came on the weekends it was strange. My girlfriend is from Bogotá and she convinced me to live here and it has been a good decision. We have everything, it is the capital of Colombia. We have a beautiful hill called Patios and I have grown fond of it.
What is the reason for this sense of belonging in Bogotá?
I have realized how little we feel proud of Bogotá and here we have everything. All cities have something bad. The traffic jam, the insecurity, but the people in Bogotá, despite their problems, are kind. The capital gives opportunities to everyone and I have grown fond of the city. It gave me the option of having the store and of creating the fund for the people of Bogotá.
What are the goals of the test?
The goal is for people from Bogotá to feel proud of their city and for those who are not from here to come here and not feel that Bogotá is the ‘icebox’. No, it is the city that welcomes everyone. It is incredible that you leave Bogotá and just 9 km away there is a moor, there are the frailejones, it is crazy. We do not value that and we want people to know the city.
Will Cycla and Egan Bernal receive money?
It was misunderstood. They are not going to give us 6 billion pesos. Cycla does not receive money from the city. The IDU was going to allocate some money to fix roads that were in the city’s development plan and they are going to prioritize something that they were going to do later in the
route so that cyclists are not in danger. That November 17 will be a city event.
What can you tell us about inclusion in the race?
The strategy is environmental and inclusive, which are pillars of the development plan for the city of Bogotá. First, we work with allies to have as little plastic as possible. And whatever there is, the one used in the race, will be used in actions with the city’s recyclers.
What about the environment?
Suárez is the supplier of the t-shirts, they have commitments to the environment, they have fabrics with special dyes. We are going to plant trees in Sumapaz. Regarding inclusion, we have a strategy to prevent harassment on bicycles. More than 300 women filled out a survey and more than 90 percent indicated that at some point they felt harassed. We want this Fund to be a vehicle for these issues.
What about physical disability?
We are working on that as well and there are inclusive spaces, with people with physical disabilities and there is a category for the disabled.
Will it be just one Gran Fondo?
That depends on the people who participate, who sign up. That will depend more on them than on us, but the idea is to do it every year and the goal is to help people feel proud of the city.
Lisandro Rengifo
Journalist from EL TIEMPO
@lisandroabel
#Egan #Bernal #harsh #confession #season #expected
