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 try and do that, and mentally I feel ready for that. In fact, I think the break I had to take this year will help me.”
“So 100 percent I’d like to do a Grand Tour and hopefully that’ll be the Tour.”
Looking back, looking ahead
Bernal has had an exceptionally tough year, not just with his accident but also with his mother have to fight against cancer, from which she is thankfully in the process of recovering. But his difficult year has, he said, highlighted for him the massive importance of his family in his life and being able to give them his support and count on their support too. He also once again thanked his team for all their backing. Returning to the question of sport, he said he was untroubled by reports that Ineos Grenadiers might be looking to boost their GC options in the future alongside his own.
“It’s normal. What team in the world would not like to have the Tadej Pogacar of the day, or the Remco [Evenepoel], really strong riders? All teams would like to have really strong riders.”
“[Teammates] Geraint Thomas finished third in the Tour de France this year, we’ve got Carlitos [Carlos] Rodriguez who could be up for winning a Grand Tour next year for sure. We’ve got some great riders as well.” He later namechecked fellow Colombian Dani Martínez as a rider with a future Grand Tour victory in his legs.
In terms of a possible race program, Bernal said that the Vuelta a San Juan in January in Argentina was one option, the Tour Colombia in February another, should the race finally go ahead. Beyond that, he is thinking about doing the Colombian Nationals, Paris-Nice and Strade Bianche, perhaps the Criterium du Dauphine. “But these are only ideas and everything could change,” he warned. “It’ll all depend on how the season goes.”
Asked directly if he could beat Evenepoel, Vingegaard and Pogacar in the Tour, Bernal told Caracol Radio that he did not know, and that the early part of the season would help show what his underlying condition was like.
Weighing up his options, he added, “It goes without saying that they are very strong, but I have faith and I’ve won a Giro and a Tour myself. It would be a very interesting Tour, to go there, give it everything and then - may the strongest rider win…that’s sport."
Bernal also added that he was determined at some point to try and win the Vuelta a España, "the only one of the three Grand Tours I've yet to get. Personally winning all three would be great. After that I could retire happy. It's a very tough race to win, but I'm 25 and I've got lots of years ahead of me."
