Egan Bernal continues progress with eighth overall at Tour de Romandie
'I think it's another good test for me' Colombian says ahead of next races in Hungary and Norway
The Tour de Romandie saw the latest stage in Egan Bernal's recovery from the career-threatening crash he suffered back in early 2022.
The Colombian finished the five-day race in eighth overall after placing eighth on the Thyon 2000 summit finish, as well as working hard for Ineos Grenadiers sprinter Ethan Hayter on the flatter stages.
A top 10 result in the Swiss stage race represents the best result attained by the 26-year-old since colliding with a bus while training in Colombia last January. The long path back to his previous Grand Tour-winning form continued in Romandie, with Bernal calling the race "another good test" for him.
"I think it's another good test for me," he told Eurosport at the start of the final stage in Switzerland. "As I've been saying, for me this is just days of accumulated training and trying to get back to the best version of me possible. So, we are taking it step by step and I think there's a lot of work ahead of us."
Bernal's top 10 placing came off the back of a strong ride on the high-mountain summit finish of Thyon 2000 on Saturday, where he fought to eighth place at 54 seconds down o eventual winner Adam Yates.
The week also saw him working for Hayter, including an effort on the mid-race hills of the final stage as he and Ineos sought to distance rival sprinters. Bernal said that he's thankful for the support his team has given him, with the motivation remaining high as he continues the recovery process.
"I've tried to do my best in the race and I'm working really hard," Bernal said. "I like what I'm doing, and I think we're on the right track, but we know that there's still a long way to go.
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"I don't know how far my body can go but I just want to do my best so that when I retire from cycling, I can be happy with what I've done and not have any regrets.
"I'm responding to all the help and good energy the team has given me, and the process they've done with me. That obviously motivates me to give my best in races and day to day in training at home."
There have been setbacks along the way for Bernal, notably this year with a crash from fourth place at the Vuelta a San Juan which saw him miss two months of racing with a knee injury and then another crash that took him out of the Volta a Catalunya on the penultimate day.
He completed Itzulia Basque Country in April and now has the Tour de Romandie under his belt, while next month he'll take on the Tour de Hongrie and Tour of Norway ahead of another WorldTour stage race appointment in June.
"I think I'll do the Tour of Hungary, Tour of Norway and then I don't know if I'll do the Dauphiné or Tour de Suisse. Let's see how the legs go."
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, she had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including Cycling Weekly and Rouleur.