Egan Bernal will have to undergo a second round of spinal surgery as he continues his complicated recovery from a life-threatening collision with a bus nine days ago.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider underwent an operation to stabilise fractures in the thoracic section of his spine last week, along with separate procedures to address fractures to his femur, kneecap, and ribs, along with a collapsed lung.
It appeared that his recovery was progressing as well as could have been hoped, as the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana hospital in Bogota issued daily statements indicating he was responding well to all treatment.
However, there was a setback on Tuesday night, as new tests revealed the need for a second spinal operation, this time in the cervical section of the spine - at the neck.
"After advancing the recovery of the systems involved in his polytrauma (musculoskeletal, respiratory, hemodynamic nervous), new diagnostic imaging was carried out and it was determined, on an interdisciplinary basis, that he will be submitted to an operation at the level of the cervical spine," read the latest statement from the hopsital.
"This intervention will favour his process of rehabilitation. We advance with the patient in all his processes of recovery, confident of a swift improvement."
Bernal will be taken into theatre on Wednesday afternoon in Colombia, with the hospital promising to issue a swift update on the procedure.
Bernal was rushed to the hospital last Monday after colliding into the back of a stationary bus while training on his time trial bike with Ineos Grenadiers teammates in the Cundinamarca area of Colombia.
The initial medical report detailed a long list of injuries, including damage to the thoracic and cervical sections of his spine. The first spinal operation concerned the T5 and T6 vertebrae in the thoracic section, with Bernal coming round with full mobility and no neurological damage.
In a first statement from his intensive care bed, he revealed there had been a 95 per cent chance of him becoming paraplegic.
"I want to thank god, the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana and all its specialists for doing the impossible, my family, my partner, and all of you," Bernal wrote on social media.
