Chris Froome has asked the cycling community not to speculate on the extent of Egan Bernal’s injuries or when he might return to the highest level of racing as he recovers in hospital following a life-threatening collision with a bus last Monday. Froome, who suffered a debilitating crash in 2019, said the community should only offer support to Bernal and his family at this time.
“Before I sign off on this episode, I just wanted to touch on something that happened earlier this week. Obviously, Egan Bernal has had a horrendous crash over in Colombia. I don’t really know the full extent of his injuries, and quite frankly, I don’t think anyone should really be asking for the full extent of his injuries,” said Froome in his latest episode on Youtube on Saturday.
“Let the kid be. He’s taken a massive hit right now. He’s probably laying in hospital. He and his family are all going to be asking a thousand questions about what does this mean for their lives? What does this mean for cycling? Just let them be. I mean, I would only offer support to him and his family right now. No one needs to be demanding questions about the injuries, when he’s going to be back on a bike, if he’s going to be at the highest level again.”
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Bernal crashed into the back of a stationary bus last Monday while training near his home in Colombia with several Ineos Grenadiers teammates. Ineos Grenadiers team confirmed in a medical update that Bernal suffered fractured vertebrae, a fractured right femur, a fractured right patella, chest trauma, a punctured lung and several fractured ribs in the crash.
He is currently recovering at the Clínica Universidad de La Sabana after undergoing complex but successful spinal surgery, along with surgeries to correct the fractures to his knee, femur, metacarpal in his right hand and to manage dentoalveolar fractures in his mouth, according to a medical update from the hospital.
Bernal made his first public statement in a post on social media on Friday, when he also published a photo from his hospital bed. He said that he had risked losing his life or being left paralysed by the injuries he sustained in the crash.
“Having had a 95% chance of becoming a paraplegic and nearly losing my life doing what I love to do most, today I want to thank God, @ClinicaUsabana [the Clínica Universidad de La Sabana – ed], all its specialists for doing the impossible, my family, @mafemotas [girlfriend Mafe Motas] and all of you for your good wishes,” Bernal wrote on Twitter and Instagram Friday.
“I'm still in the ICU waiting for more surgeries but trusting in God everything will be fine.”
Froome crashed as he studied the time trial stage of the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné. He suffered a double femur fracture, multiple other fractures and a collapsed lung, and he underwent a lengthy recovery process. He and Bernal were teammates at Team Sky, now Ineos Grenadiers, in 2018 through 2020, before he transferred to Israel Start-Up Nation last year.
“What [Egan Bernal] needs right now are his friends and family close by and to work through this one stage at a time, and focus on getting back to normal life, first and foremost, and then cycling can be an afterthought, after that," said Froome on Saturday.
"My thoughts, obviously, go out to him. It doesn’t matter what team you’re on or anything, but to see, especially a youngster like him, take a hit like that, it’s extremely sad for our sport."
