'I felt like the Egan of before' - Bernal shines at Colombian championships
Ineos Grena🐠diers rider takes first podium finish since winning the 20๊21 Giro d'Italia

168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Egan Bernal had to settle for bronze at the 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:Colombian National Championships road race, but the Ineos Grenadiers rider was heartened by his best result and performance since the life-threatening crash he ♈suffered in training two years ago.
Alejandro Osorio (GW Erco Shimano) claime𒅌d the title with a long-range attack, and he withstood a spirited pursuit from Bernal and silver medallist Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe), who closed to within four seconds by the finish in Tunja.
After finishing a distant sixth in the ✨time trial in midweek, more than three minutes behind Daniel Martinez, Bernal bounced back with a fine display in Sunday’s road race. It marked his first podium finish in any race since he sealed overall victory at the 2021 Giro d’Italia.
“This m♔eans a lot for me,” Bernal told reporters i𝓰n Colombia afterwards.
“We had worked to be as good as poಌssible for these national championships. In the time trial, let’s say that we didn’t go like we wanted but I think that in the road race, I showed the level I really have.
“Th🍸is gives me a lot of motivation for what’s coming up this season and it gives me a lot of desire to get back to the level I had before.”
In January 2022, Bernal suffered fractured vertebrae, a fractured femur, a fractured patella and a punctured lung in a training crash near Bogotá. He spent almost two weeks in an intensive care unit, but he remarkably returne♐d to t𝕴he peloton before the end of the that season.
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Bernal completed both the Tour de France and Vuelta a ♍España in 2023, but he also endured setbacks during the campaign, including a knee injury that forced him to miss last year’s Colombian Championships and a crash that 🐭forced him to abandon the Volta a Catalunya.
Speaking to , Bernal confirmed that his display in Sunday’🐠s race was ℱhis best since his career-altering crash of two years ago.
“To a certa💞in extent, I almost felt nostalgic during the race, I felt like the Egan of before,” Bernal said.
“I said I was going to give everything: I didn’t care if I got dropped on a hill, I was doing all my turns flat out. That's how I used to race, without fear, and I fel🎐t that way again.
“In the group, we understood🌊 each other very well, it was a great collaboration because nobody held anything back. We all went flat oജut, because the race was very fast.”
Bernal’s next test will come at next week’s Tour Colombia, where he is 168澳洲5最新开奖结果:set to lead th🦋e Colombian nation𓆉al team. His rivals for thﷺe title will include Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF E꧂ducation-EasyPost).
“I have to keep my feet on the ground, of course, but the Colombian national championships is one of the hardest national champioജnships,” Bernal said.
“It has one of the highest levels and this circuit was really h🌳ard, so you had to have good legs. I’m happy and I have a lot of desire to keep working. I’ve been working hard for the last two years to get back to this level and now I’ll keep going.”

Barry Ryan was H🦂ead of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Pr𒐪ocycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of , published by Gill Books.