Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) has confirmed that “if all goes well,” he would like to return to the Tour de France in 2023, the race he won in 2019.
In a lengthy interview with Colombia’s Caracol Radio, Bernal said that next year his ideal goal is “to do it [the Tour] and do as well as possible, and to be in good form.”
He recognised that it was difficult to be know if he would be able to beat Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) or Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), winners of the last three Tours. But he would, he said, be determined to give it his all..
Bernal also had words of support for fellow Colombian Nairo Quintana, currently in the throes of a court battle over a positive test for tramadol, saying he hoped things could work out for the best for him.
Bernal, 25, provided a lengthy update on his current condition saying it was going well.
“They did the last surgery a month ago on my knee,” Bernal, who suffered a life-threatening accident last January 24, told Caracol Radio’s program El_vbar, “and since then I’ve been a bit on holiday, and doing some training.”
“And I’d be ready to get back into racing in January or February. I didn’t expect to recover so quickly and at first, my first thoughts after the crash were just to have a normal life, not to be a pro cyclist again or even ride a bike.”
“Then that second option became possible.”
Rather than Ineos Grenadiers raising expectations too quickly as he made progress in his comeback, he said, “It’s been me that’s put myself under pressure.”
“They said I could take it easy, but it was me that said ‘no if I want to get back being at my top level, to try and win the Tour again, I have to start moving again. I live for sport, I live for cycling and it’s me that’s put myself under pressure.”
Having ridden a number of races in the summer and late autumn, Bernal said that mentally this had helped him considerably to get back into the peloton and help the team even if he wasn’t at the best level.
“More than anything I wanted to see if I was still scared after the accident and in the first few kilometres I did get very nervous. It was like riding my first race again. But then I got over that.”
Next year, he said, “and always assuming everything goes fine, and if I recover the strength I get back fully in my right leg, which was the most affected, I would start 2023 as a normal rider. And I’d like to go back to the Tour.”
“I’ve got eight or nine months to…
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