Egan Bernal may never win another Grand Tour, but in the final hours before he made his return to the Giro d'Italia on Friday, the Colombian underlined the importance of both continuing to try to do so while simultaneously inspiring the next generation of his country's racers.
The Ineos Grenadiers co-leader for the Italian Grand Tour alongside Thymen Arensman, Bernal won the Giro d'Italia in 2021 after becoming the first Colombian to conquer the Tour de France in 2019.
However, Bernal explained in Friday's final pre-race press conference that his new, striking design for his Colombian National Champion's jersey was a homage to a much earlier Grand Tour victory in his country's history, and simultaneously to his own youngest days as a cyclist, too.
"It's a new design because in the past we had a team, Café de Colombia, that was the first to win a Grand Tour for Colombia," Bernal said, referring to compatriot Lucho Herrera's win in the 1987 Vuelta a España.
"That's what inspired me to become a cyclist, and I want to try and do the same with the next generation. It's a big responsibility with this design, and I will try to do my best."
Bernal will wear versions of the redesigned jersey in this year's Giro d'Italia, both in the mass start stages and in the time trials, given that he currently holds both national titles.
However, while he freely admitted that he was uncertain if he could repeat his 2021 Giro d'Italia victory four years on, the Colombian said he was adamant he would try.
"It's a good question, I don't know," he said, "But I think I'm still preparing myself for that, so every morning when I wake up, I try to do my best.
"I'm still believing, and this is my hope. I'm still improving. And also I enjoy cycling more now than when I was winning."
While Bernal has taken some huge strides in his performance since a life-threatening crash in early 2022 blew his entire career off course, the Colombian has yet to turn in a major GC ride in a Grand Tour since then.
However, his first wins this February since the accident in the National Championships strongly suggest his overall condition is very much on the rise, and more may yet be to come this May.
Seventh overall in his most recent race, the Volta a Catalunya, where the cancellation of the main mountain stage because of poor weather arguably prevented him from getting an even better GC result, Bernal says he has gotten in a solid block of training back home in Colombia during the last month, too.
"I prepared myself there, my home is at 2,600 metres [above sea level ], so that's more than enough, it was good enough training - quality, normal preparation," he said.
"I had the team's support in the last two weeks, and yeah - now, we are here."
Bernal was also equally upbeat about his teammate Thymen Arensman, whom he expects to play an equally important role in the squad's participation in this year's Giro.
"He's a great rider, super strong and with a great future," Bernal said. "I'm also here to help him do a good GC. So we've many opportunities ahead of us, and with all of the strong guys in our team, we have to race hard and take our chances where we can."
As for Bernal himself, quite what the scale of those chances will be remains to be decided. However, he has been consistently raising the bar since he returned to racing, and the Giro could yet be another major milestone in his ongoing progress back towards his previous level.
When it comes to inspiring future generations of his country's racers, though, Bernal is surely already on top of his game.
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