Star Colombian racer Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) has warned against an excessive hike in expectations after taking a dramatic solo win for the second year running in the Colombian National Championships.
Able to triumph on a ultra-tough course with thirteen ascents of the Alto de la Concepcíon, a climb with segments of up to 20%, Bernal's 2026 victory carried considerable extra resonance as it was raced on a circuit in his home town of Zipaquirá.
Although he did not win by the kind of jaw-dropping margin of over two minutes that he enjoyed when winning the same race in 2025, reaching the line alone again, seven seconds ahead of Iván Sosa (Equipo Kern Pharma), and cheered on by thousands of local supporters made for a memorable triumph in anyone's book.
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Hopes remain high on home soil that four years on from a life-threatening crash that has proved pivotal in his career, Bernal can at least approach the form close to his golden years when he won the Tour de France in 2019 and the Giro d'Italia in 2021.
Bernal warned, though, that whilst winning in Colombia was very important, there were "no gifts" in European racing, either, and he would face some very hard rivals once he heads across the Atlantic for the remainder of the first part of the 2026 season.
“Winning is winning. But there are no gifts, there is no such thing as a preparation race anymore and everybody is going flat out," Bernal told Deportes RCN.
"For the moment, everything is going well. I keep working with my feet on the ground, because to win in Europe, you’ll be up against a Primož Roglič or a Remco [Evenepoel] or a [Tadej] Pogačar or a [João] Almeida or a [Jonas] Vingegaard – there are so many really strong riders.
"But I’m still working and believing in myself and I’m trying to get to the best level I can."
The race itself was an impressive one by Bernal, with his and Sosa's constant presence and pressure on the front ensuring that the duo's late attack only brought a muted response, prior to dropping his former teammate.
"It was a question of waiting and going flat out, I've never ridden such a tough race - I'd been up the final climb before, but even though it was a tough one, there were a lot of people who went up it full gas and I was driving like crazy.
"I thought Iván was maybe going to beat me, but sprint battles after six hours of racing are very different, and it worked out well."
Bernal also got off to a very strong start in 2025, only to break his collarbone when he crashed out on a downhill-offroad segment of the Clásica Jáen race in mid-February. This time round he'll return to the gravel again, on the roads of Strade Bianche.
Prior to the Italian Classic on March 7, where he took third behind Mathieu van der Poel and Julian Alaphilippe back in 2021, he'll do the Drôme Classic (February 28) and the Ardêche Classic (March 1), and afterwards he'll be present at Tirreno-Adriatico (March 9-15) and then a race in which he's often shone, the Volta a Catalunya (March 23-29).
In any case, his first win of the year is now in the bag, the first since he won a stage of the Vuelta a España in 2025, the shortened stage 16 in Galicia, and Bernal will once again get the chance to wear his national's champion jersey. It just remains to be seen if the design is as striking as the one had last year.
"I didn't think I was under pressure, but I couldn't sleep before the time trial so maybe that was the case," he told Deportes RCN. "With everybody shouting Egan on the climb, I couldn't do anything else, but try my hardest."
