Egan Arley Bernal Gómez (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian professional cyclist who rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

. In 2019 he won the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, becoming the first Latin American rider to do so, and the youngest winner since 1909. At the

2021 Giro d'Italia The 2021 Giro d'Italia was the 104th edition of the Giro d'Italia, Giro, a three-week Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour cycling stage race. It started on 8 May and finished on 30 May. On 26 May 2019, the race organisers RCS Sport originally annou ...

, Bernal took his second Grand Tour win.

Early life

Bernal was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and raised in

Zipaquirá Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south, Tocancipá and Gachancipá to the east and ...

. He is the oldest child of Germán, an employee at the

Salt Cathedral In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as ro ...

, and Flor, a flower factory worker. His father had been a keen amateur cyclist, and he started riding on a second hand bicycle at age five. At nine, against his father's wishes, he entered and easily won a race in his home town, the prize for which included a training scholarship. He studied one semester at Universidad de la Sabana in Chia, Colombia. He initially focused on and excelled at mountain biking, winning races in Brazil, Costa Rica, and the United States, and getting both silver (2014) and bronze (2015) in the

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing in the disciplines of cross country, downhill, and four-cross. They are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing ...

junior cross country events.

Professional road racing

Alongside mountain biking, Bernal had begun to gain success in junior road racing both in Colombia and Italy, winning the Clasica Juventudes Cajica and the Sognando Il Giro delle Fiandre in 2015.

2016–2017

Bernal was signed by

Gianni Savio Gianni Savio (16 April 1948 – 30 December 2024) was an Italian cycling team manager, who was a directeur sportif with the cycling team, a position he held since the team's creation in 1996. Career Savio began his career as a sports director ...

to the team on a four-year contract, partly on the evidence of a

VO2 max V̇O2 max (also maximal oxygen consumption, maximal oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity) is the maximum rate of respiration (physiology), oxygen consumption attainable during physical exertion. The name is derived from three abbreviations ...

reading of 88.8ml/kg/min provided by his agent, Paolo Alberati. He began racing among seniors right away, bypassing the usual U23 career route. In 2016, he obtained top 20 results in the

La Méditerranéenne La Méditerranéenne, previously known as Le Tour Méditerranéen, was a professional road bicycle racing event held in Spain, France and Italy, close to the Mediterranean Sea. Run over four days, it holds a UCI race classifications, 2.1 rating on ...

, the GP Industria & Artigianato,

Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali (), also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. History Between 1999 and 2000 it was cal ...

and

Giro del Trentino The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino () until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy. In 2015, th ...

, before winning the (then) lower level

Tour of Bihor The Tour of Bihor-Bellotto is a multi-day cycling race in Bihor, Romania established 2016. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union C ...

and coming fourth in both the Tour de Slovenie and the

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

. 2017 saw top ten finishes for Bernal in the

Vuelta a San Juan The Vuelta a San Juan is an annual road cycling stage race held in Argentine. Typically consisting of seven stages, beginning and ending in San Juan, the race was first held in 1982. In 2017, the race was classified as a 2.1 event by the Unio ...

and the

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a stage race, multiple stage bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily ...

. He later finished third overall in the

, second in the

Giro dell'Appennino Giro or GIRO may refer to: Banking and investments * Giro (banking), a direct payment from one bank account to another instigated by the payer * Girobank, a state owned and later privatised financial institution in the UK * GiroBank, a Danish ba ...

, and ninth in the

Tour of the Alps The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino () until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

. His first professional wins came in the

Sibiu Cycling Tour The Sibiu Cycling Tour (Cycling Tour of Sibiu until 2015) is a 2.1 category professional bicycle road race held in Sibiu, Romania. Its first edition took place in July 2011, as part of the UCI Europe Tour. The race is organised with the support o ...

, with two stage victories as well as the overall. He also won two stages and the overall title at the

. Although he was still under contract to and a contract buyout payment reported to be €350,000 was necessary, Bernal signed a five-year deal with from the 2018 season. He completed his time in Savio's team with fifth in the

Giro della Toscana The Giro di Toscana is a road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was not held in 2015. On 4 April 2016 it was announced that the race will ...

and top twenty places in

Giro dell'Emilia The Giro dell'Emilia is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. First run in 1909, the race is considered a classic cycle race, and is traditionally grouped with the Giro del Piemonte and Giro di Lombard ...

Milano–Torino Milano–Torino is a semi classic European single day cycling race, between the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin over a distance of 199 kilometres. The event was first run in 1876 making it the oldest classic race in the world. The ...

and his first

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

, Il Lombardia.

2018

Bernal made his debut for in the

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...

as team co-leader, in which he won the young rider classification and finished sixth in the overall standings. In February 2018, Bernal won the

Colombian National Time Trial Championships The Colombian National Time Trial Championship is a road bicycle race that takes place inside the Colombian National Cycling Championship, and decides the best cyclist in this type of race. The first edition took place in 1999. The first winner o ...

. He went on to win the first edition of the

Tour Colombia The Tour Colombia, called earlier Colombia Oro y Paz is a multi-day professional cycling race held annually in Colombia since 2018. It is on the UCI America Tour calendar as a category 2.1 event. Winners See also * Vuelta a Colombia ...

(then called Colombia Oro y Paz), through an attack on the final climb on the last day. Bernal's next race was the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

, in which he was second on general classification when he fell on a wet descent in the final stage, fracturing his

clavicle The clavicle, collarbone, or keybone is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately long that serves as a strut between the scapula, shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on each side of the body. The clavic ...

and

scapula The scapula (: scapulae or scapulas), also known as the shoulder blade, is the bone that connects the humerus (upper arm bone) with the clavicle (collar bone). Like their connected bones, the scapulae are paired, with each scapula on either side ...

. The following month, Bernal competed in the

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

, winning stage three of the race, an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also trac ...

and finishing second overall behind

Primož Roglič Primož Roglič (; born 29 October 1989) is a Slovenian professional road bicycle racing, racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . A former ski jumping, ski jumper, Roglič switched to cycling after an accident suffered at Planica. Despite b ...

. In May, Bernal achieved his first

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

win in the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

, finishing over a minute ahead of

Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen (born August 12, 1988) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2021 for the , , and . Following his retirement as a cyclist, van Garderen became a directeur sportif for ...

, and winning two stages. In July, he rode the

as a

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their cycling team, team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équip ...

for team leaders

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome, (; born 20 May 1985) is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one Giro d' ...

and

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, ( , ; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a track and ...

. He was the youngest participant in the race, and was still able to drop many contenders in the mountains.

2019

Bernal started his 2019 season in Colombia. He rode in the national championships and in his home stage race, the

. Bernal, however, was unable to defend his title in the race, finishing fourth overall. Bernal later went to Europe to compete in

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

. The Colombian impressed in the crosswinds, the individual time trial, and in the mountains, claiming the overall victory ahead of

Nairo Quintana Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, Order of Boyacá, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Nicknamed "Nairoman" and "El Cóndor de los Andes", Quintana is a specialist climber, known fo ...

. Bernal next finished third in the

, and was scheduled to lead Team Ineos at the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

until he broke a collarbone in a training injury in Andorra. He returned to racing for the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France, which is on the calend ...

, in which he won the overall classification and the queen stage.

Tour de France victory

Bernal was elevated to be co-leader of the team with defending champion Thomas for the

, because of the absence through injury of Froome. After the stage 2 team time trial he had a top ten position in the general classification, which he retained, despite an unimpressive individual time trial performance, into the three decisive alpine stages. An attack on the last climb of stage 18 saw him move into second place overall, ahead of Thomas, and he took the yellow jersey as race leader on stage 19 after an attack on the

Col de l'Iseran Col de l'Iseran (el. ) is a mountain pass in France, the highest paved pass in the Alps. A part of the Graian Alps, it is in the department of Savoie, near the border with Italy, and is crossed by the D902 roadway. The pass is part of the Rout ...

. The stage was shortened because of landslides and a severe hail storm with 38 km remaining. Although the stage positions were considered null, times were taken at the top of the Iseran, putting Bernal in the lead with margins of forty five seconds over previous leader

Julian Alaphilippe Julian Alaphilippe (; born 11 June 1992) is a French professional road cyclist, former cyclo-cross racer and two-time UCI World Road Champion, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He is the brother of racing cyclist Bryan Alaphilippe. Career E ...

and one minute and eleven seconds over Thomas. He defended his lead on stage 20, another mountain stage, and confirmed his victory with the largely ceremonial ride onto the

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

in Paris. He thus became the first Colombian or South American rider, and second from the Americas, to win the Tour de France, and also won the best young rider competition. At the time he was the youngest General Classification winner since

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escapes death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Janu ...

and the third youngest ever at 22 years, 196 days. "It's incredible, I don’t know what to say", Bernal said. "I’ve won the Tour but I don’t manage to believe it. I need a couple of days to assimilate all this. It's for my family and I just want to hug them. It's a feeling of happiness that I don’t know how to describe it." The young champion cyclist went on to say the victory was also for his home country of Colombia. "This is not only my triumph", Bernal said. "It's the triumph of a whole country."

2020

In early 2020, Bernal finished fourth at the

. After the coronavirus break, he won the

Route d'Occitanie The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France. ...

, and finished second at the

Tour de l'Ain Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional cycling stage race held in eastern France. G.P. de l'Amitié The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.). It was held over f ...

. At the Colombian Road Race Championships, he claimed podiums in both the road race and time trial. At the

, Bernal was in the top ten of the general classification from stage 2 to stage 14, and led the young rider classification for five stages, but having been 59 seconds behind the leader after stage 14 he lost considerable time on the next two days, after which he withdrew from the race with back pain.

2021

After some early season stage races, including the Tour de la Provence where he took third place, he finished third in

Strade Bianche The Strade Bianche (; ) is a road bicycle race in Tuscany, Central Italy, starting and finishing in Siena. First held in 2007, it is raced annually on the first or second Saturday of March. The name stems from the historic white gravel roads in ...

, and in the

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of th ...

he managed one top five stage finish, and finished in fourth place, 4'13" behind winner

Tadej Pogačar Tadej Pogačar (; born 21 September 1998) is a Slovenia, Slovenian professional road bicycle racing, cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His victories include three Tour de France, Tours de France (2020 Tour de France, 2020, 2021 Tou ...

. Bernal entered the

as one of the favourites for the race. On the sixth stage to San Giacomo, Bernal put time into his rivals by finishing second behind stage winner

Gino Mäder Gino Mäder (; 4 January 1997 – 16 June 2023) was a Swiss road and track cyclist. He last rode for UCI WorldTeam . Mäder died as a result of an accident during the 2023 Tour de Suisse. Early life and education Gino Mäder was born on 4 Jan ...

and moving into third place in the overall standings, 16 seconds behind new leader

Attila Valter Attila Valter (born 12 June 1998 in Csömör) is a Hungarian professional racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career In 2019 Valter joined the , having ridden for the Pannon Cycling Team the previous year. At the 2019 To ...

. On the race's ninth stage, Bernal took the first Grand Tour stage win of his career as well as the

pink jersey The general classification in the Giro d'Italia is the most important classification of the Giro d'Italia, which determines who is the overall winner. It is therefore considered more important than secondary classifications as the points classifi ...

with an attack on the gravel section at the end of the final climb to

Campo Felice Campo Felice is a karstic plateau in the central Apennines, included in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy. Included in the communal territories of Lucoli and Rocca di Cambio, in the Sirente-Velino Regional Park, it is geograp ...

, emerging with a 15 second lead in the general classification over

Remco Evenepoel Remco Evenepoel (; born 25 January 2000) is a Belgian professional cyclist and Olympic gold medalist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Evenepoel is widely regarded as one of the best Individual time trial, time trialists of his generation; he is a t ...

. Bernal extended his lead on the second stage of the race with gravel sectors, stage 11 to

Montalcino Montalcino is a hill town and ''comune'' in the province of Siena, Tuscany, central Italy. The town is located to the west of Pienza, close to the Crete Senesi in Val d'Orcia. It is from Siena, from Florence and from Pisa. Monte Amiata is l ...

, where several of his general classification rivals lost time, including Evenepoel, giving Bernal a 45 second lead over Aleksander Vlasov. He took more time out of his rivals on stage 14, latching onto an attack by Simon Yates on the final climb up

Monte Zoncolan Monte Zoncolan () is a mountain in the Carnic Alps, located in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, with an elevation of . It is one of the most demanding climbs in professional road bicycle racing, having been used in the Giro d'Italia ...

before overhauling him to finish the stage in fourth and take a lead of over one and a half minutes in the general classification over Yates, who moved into the runner-up position. Bernal took his second stage win of the race on the sixteenth stage to

Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...

, which was shortened due to poor weather, crossing the finish line 27 seconds in front of

Romain Bardet Romain Bardet (; born 9 November 1990) is a former French professional bicycle racing, racing cyclist who rode for UCI WorldTeam . Bardet is known for his climbing and descending abilities, which make him one of the top general classification cont ...

and

Damiano Caruso Damiano Caruso (born 12 October 1987) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . A stage winner at both the 2021 Giro d'Italia and the 2021 Vuelta a España, Caruso was also the 2008 under-23 Italian national ...

and opening up a lead in the overall standings of almost two and a half minutes over the latter going into the second rest day. On the race's final week Bernal maintained his lead over Caruso but lost time to Yates, with the latter and João Almeida distancing Bernal on stage 17's finishing climb to Sega di Ala, cutting the gap between Bernal and Yates by almost a minute, and Yates again attacking on stage 19's final ascent up Alpe di Mera with about six and a half kilometres to go, going on to win the stage with Bernal almost half a minute behind. On the final mountain stage, Caruso and his teammate

Pello Bilbao Pello Bilbao López de Armentia (born 25 February 1990) is a Spaniards, Spanish Basques, Basque cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Caja Rural–Seguros RGA (2014–16) Bilbao joined for the 2014 season, after his previous ...

distanced Bernal on the descent of the

San Bernardino Pass San Bernardino Pass (, , ) is a high mountain pass in the Swiss Alps connecting the Hinterrhein and the Mesolcina (Misox) valleys between Thusis ( canton of Graubünden) and Bellinzona ( canton of Ticino). Located in the far eastern side ...

50 km from the finish in pursuit of a group of riders from including Bardet before working with riders from an earlier breakaway to extend their lead over Bernal to 50 seconds up the penultimate climb of the

Splügen Pass The Splügen Pass (; ; ) is an Alpine mountain pass of the Lepontine Alps. It connects the Swiss, Grisonian Splügen to the north below the pass with the Italian Chiavenna to the south at the end of the Valle San Giacomo below the pass ...

. Bernal and his teammates were able to reduce the gap to less than half a minute by the time Caruso crossed the finish line on the Alpe Motta to win the stage, reducing Bernal's general classification lead to just under two minutes. Bernal secured the pink jersey on the final time trial in Milan, conceding another 30 seconds to Caruso to win by a one and a half minute margin. He became the fourth rider to win both the Tour and the Giro before reaching the age of 25, after

Gino Bartali Gino Bartali, (; 18 July 1914 – 5 May 2000), nicknamed Gino the Pious and (in Italy) Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in ...

Felice Gimondi Felice Gimondi (; 29 September 1942 – 16 August 2019) was an Italian professional racing cyclist. With his 1968 Vuelta a España, 1968 victory at the Vuelta a España, only three years after becoming a professional cyclist, Gimondi, nicknamed ...

and

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (born 17 June 1945), known as Eddy Merckx (, ), is a Belgian former professional road and track cyclist racer who is the most successful rider in the history of competitive cycling. His victories include an ...

, and also the fourth rider to win both the overall and youth classifications in the same Giro, alongside

Evgeni Berzin Evgeni Valentinovich Berzin (; born 3 June 1970) is a Russian former road cyclist. Coming from track cycling, where he successfully represented the Soviet Union at World Championships, he moved to Italy in 1992 and turned professional with in ...

, countryman

and teammate

Tao Geoghegan Hart Tao Geoghegan Hart ( ; born 30 March 1995) is a British cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He rode for as a stagiaire in late 2015, and joined the team permanently for the 2017 season. He was the winner of the 2020 Giro d'Italia ...

. Bernal entered the

2021 Vuelta a España The 2021 Vuelta a España was a three-week cycling race which took place in Spain between 14 August and 5 September 2021. It was the 76th edition of the Vuelta a España and the third and final Grand Tour (cycling), grand tour of the 2021 in men' ...

with a very strong team that also included

Richard Carapaz Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro (born 29 May 1993) is an Ecuadorian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, becoming the first Ecuadorian rider to win the race. In July 2021 ...

and

Adam Yates Adam Richard Yates (born 7 August 1992) is a British professional road and track racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Yates placed fourth overall at the 2016 Tour de France and became the first British rider to win the Young rider clas ...

. By his own standards he rode poorly early in the race and was not happy with his own performance. Despite this his took over the young rider classification after stage 3 and was in a top 10 position among the general classification riders for most of the race. On stage 17 which included the climb to the

Lagos de Covadonga The Lakes of Covadonga (el. 1134 m.) () are two glacial lakes located on the region of Asturias, Spain. These lakes, often also called Lakes of Enol or simply Los Lagos, are Lake Enol and Lake Ercina located in the Picos de Europa ra ...

he launched an attack with 61 kilometers to go.

was the only rider who could go with him and the two continuously built a gap over the other favorites. By the end of the stage he had fallen back and crossed the line with the surviving general classification riders still maintaining his lead over

in the young rider competition and rising to 6th place overall. On the penultimate climb of the race he got caught out in a split among the GC riders and lost the young rider jersey to Mäder, but retained his 6th place after the final ITT on stage 21.

2022 crash

On a training ride in

Gachancipá Gachancipá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Suesca ...

with Ineos Grenadiers teammates on the 24 January, Bernal hit the back of a stopped passenger bus at a speed of about . Bernal was on his time-trial bike and had not been attentive to the stopped bus according to the transit police. Ineos team later released a statement stating Bernal had sustained " .. fractured vertebrae, a fractured right

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

, a fractured right

patella The patella (: patellae or patellas), also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in m ...

chest trauma A chest injury, also known as chest trauma, is any form of physical injury to the chest including the ribs, heart and lungs. Chest injuries account for 25% of all deaths from traumatic injury. Typically chest injuries are caused by blunt mechanism ...

, a

punctured lung A pneumothorax is collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve is formed by ...

and several

rib fracture A rib fracture is a break in a rib bone. This typically results in chest pain that is worse with inspiration. Bruising may occur at the site of the break. When several ribs are broken in several places a flail chest results. Potential complicat ...

s". Bernal was taken to Clinica

Universidad de La Sabana The Universidad de La Sabana is a private university in Colombia, supervised by the Colombian Ministry of Education. It was founded on September 21, 1979, by the Asociación para la Enseñanza Aspaen, its predecessor was the INSE "Instituto Sup ...

in Bogotá for treatment. In total, doctors counted 20 separate fractures and initially warned there was a 95% chance Bernal would die or be paralyzed. He underwent two surgeries, both of which were successful in the immediate sense; the long term impacts are less certain. By 25 January he was stabilized, although still in intensive care as the doctors moved to treating less serious injuries. He began to recover quickly, and by early March was sharing his progress with friends, family and fans on social media. His coach, Xabier Artexte, did not rule out a return to cycling by the end of the 2022 season. There was a rumor that Bernal would possibly make his return at the

2022 Vuelta a España The 2022 Vuelta a España was a three-week cycling race which took place in the Netherlands and Spain between 19 August and 11 September 2022. It was the 77th edition of the Vuelta a España and the third and final grand tour of the 2022 men's ...

, however Vuelta Director Javier Guillén stated this was not true. Instead Bernal was intending to ride in the

2022 Vuelta a Burgos The 2022 Vuelta a Burgos was a men's road cycling stage race that took place from 2 to 6 August 2022 in the Spanish province of Burgos. It was the 44th edition of the Vuelta a Burgos, and was rated as a 2.Pro event as part of the 2022 UCI ProSer ...

. The plan was changed again with his new return being the

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish multi-day professional road cycling race. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as PostNord Danmark Rundt. The race is sometimes called the Tou ...

2023

Bernal finished 8th at the 2023 Tour de Romandie. He also rode in the

2023 Tour de France The 2023 Tour de France was the 110th edition of the Tour de France. It started in Bilbao, Spain, on 1 July and ended with the final stage at Champs-Élysées, Paris, on 23 July. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard () won the General classifica ...

and the 2023 Vuelta a Espana.

Major results

Road

;2016 : 1st Overall

::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stage 1 : 1st Young rider classification,

: 1st Young rider classification,

: 4th Overall

Tour of Slovenia Tour of Slovenia (Dirka po Sloveniji) is a five day road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race held since 1993. Between 2005 and 2018, it was organised as a 2.1 race on the UCI Europe Tour. The 2019 edition was classified as a 2.HC race. It b ...

::1st Young rider classification : 4th Overall

;2017 (3 pro wins) : 1st Overall

::1st Points classification ::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stages 2 & 3 : 1st Overall

Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc The Tour de Savoie Mont-Blanc was a multi-day cycling race held annually in the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie in France between 1999 and 2021. It was held as part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road ...

::1st Points classification ::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stages 2 & 4 (

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication *Tank phone, Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional typ ...

) : 1st Overall

::1st Stages 7 & 8 : 2nd

: 3rd

Memorial Marco Pantani The Memorial Marco Pantani is a professional road bicycle race held annually in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The race has been organized since 2004 and serves as a memory of Marco Pantani. The race starts in Cesenatico, Pantani's hometown, and ...

: 4th Overall

::1st Young rider classification : 5th Overall

::1st Young rider classification : 5th

GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano The GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano is a road bicycle race held annually in Larciano, Italy. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2020, the race joined the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the ...

: 7th Overall

: 9th Overall

::1st Young rider classification : 9th Overall

::1st Young rider classification ;2018 (6) : 1st

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Championships : 1st Overall

::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stages 2 & 6 : 1st Overall Colombia Oro y Paz ::1st Mountains classification ::1st Young rider classification : 2nd Overall

::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 (

) : 6th Overall

::1st Young rider classification : 10th

;2019 (5) : 1st Overall

::1st

Young rider classification Young rider classification () in a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, is an award for the current leader by overall time for riders below the age of twenty-six years ...

: 1st Overall

::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stage 7 : 1st Overall

::1st Young rider classification : 1st

Gran Piemonte The Giro del Piemonte, since 2009 known also as Gran Piemonte, is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Piedmont region, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. From 2005–2019, the race was organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Eur ...

: 2nd

: 3rd

, National Championships : 3rd Overall

: 3rd

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

: 4th Overall

: 6th

: 9th

;2020 (2) : 1st Overall

::1st Points classification ::1st Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 : National Championships ::2nd Road race ::3rd

: 2nd Overall

: 4th Overall

::Held after Stages 7–12 ;2021 (3) : 1st Overall

::1st

::1st Stages 9 & 16 : 2nd

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a ...

: 3rd Overall Tour de la Provence : 3rd

: 4th Overall

: 6th Overall

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

::Held after Stages 3–19 :: Combativity award Stage 17 ;2023 : 8th Overall

: 8th Overall

Tour de Hongrie The Tour de Hongrie () is a professional road bicycle stage race organized in Hungary since 1925. History The inaugural Tour de Hongrie took place on 27 June 1925. The cyclists hit the road as early as four in the morning, and the Budapest–Szo ...

;2024 : 3rd Road race, National Championships : 3rd Overall

: 3rd Overall

O Gran Camiño O Gran Camiño ''(English: The Great Way)'', also known as Gran Camiño and the International Galician Tour, is a road cycling stage race held in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The race is rated as a category 2.1 eve ...

: 4th Overall

: 5th Overall

: 7th Overall

: 10th Overall

;2025 (2) : National Championships ::1st Road race ::1st

: 7th Overall

General classification results timeline

Mountain bike

;2014 : 2nd Silver medal uci

Cross-country, UCI World Junior Championships : 3rd Cross-country, Pan American Junior Championships ;2015 : 1st PanAmericanJersey

Cross-country, Pan American Junior Championships : 3rd Bronze medal uci

Cross-country, UCI World Junior Championships

Notes

References

External links

Egan Bernal
at FirstCycling * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernal, Egan 1997 births Colombian Giro d'Italia stage winners Colombian male cyclists Giro d'Italia winners Living people Cyclists from Bogotá People from Zipaquirá Cyclists from Cundinamarca Department Tour de France winners Tour de Suisse stage winners 21st-century Colombian sportsmen