The STORY Of Egan Bernal’s CRASH: Can He WIN The Tour AGAIN?

The STORY Of Egan Bernal’s CRASH: Can He WIN The Tour AGAIN?

The past two years of Egan Bernal’s life were very rough. His 2022 was all about recovering from a crash that nearly ended his life, after which he had to learn to both walk and then cycle again. Then, in 2023, his focus was fully back on the sport, and entering two of the grand tours, to get the hang of it. But with the 2024 season starting, we’re about to witness Egan Bernal two point oh, and the second phase of his cycling career. But what did his recovery look like? And will he ever be able to get to the level he was at before the devastating crash?

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The past two years of Egan bal’s life were very rough his 2022 was all about recovering from a crash that nearly ended his life after which he had to learn to both walk and then cycle again then in 2023 his Focus was fully back on the sport and entering two of the grand

Tours to get the hang of it but with the 2024 season starting we’re about to witness Egan Burnell 2.0 and the second phase of his cycling career but what did his recovery look like and will he ever be able to get to the level he was that before the devastating crash before the

Start of the 2024 cycling season Egan Burnal got the chance to sit down with his team where they gave him the opportunity to express his wishes they asked him whether he’d like to go to the jro or the tour or what else he would want to do but his answer was I just

Want to perform I want to be the best version of myself I want to start the season and to see where I will arrive these goals might seem modest for someone who became the third youngest winner in the history of the tour to France but bernal’s career has been far

From ordinary since his yellow Jersey in 2019 and the 2021 Jiro ditalia success just about 2 years ago now on January 24th of 2022 Egan was training in Colombia with his fellow inos grenadiers teammates at the time he was on his time trial bike traveling at a high speed

With his head tucked down in an arrow position but at that moment this prevented him from seeing a stopped passenger bus right in front of him Egan crashed into the back of the bus at a very high speed he suffered some really bad injuries that at the time looked

Like they could be fatal or at least career ending at best his team revealed he had a broken vertebrae a broken right thigh bone a broken right kneecap chest injuries a punctured lung and several broken ribs he was immediately taken to the hospital where the doctors said he

Had 20 different broken bones and warned that there was a 95% chance Burnal could either die or become paralyzed but thankfully the 5% chance was the one which prevailed fail after two serious surgeries the doctors managed to stabilize his condition one thing was apparent right away though if he ever

Wanted to cycle again he’d first have to learn to walk Egan commented on the catastrophe saying it was a hard crash the worst thing is that I remember everything I remember the seconds before the crash I was on the TT bike and I was actually feeling really good and I was

Like kind of happy because I was going so fast and then I remember I was looking at the Garmin and I saw 62 km per hour and then from one moment to the other I was just on the floor then after maybe 1 minute or so I started to feel

The pain and it was really really painful I had pain everywhere he also said that initially he wasn’t even sure what happened he didn’t know whether he hit a motorbike a car or perhaps even a person all he knew at the time was confusion luckily for him the team Dr

Raphael Santos was with them on that training ride and aan still thinks that without his presence things could have ended far far worse Santos and others had to act fast to make the situation stable including fixing a fracture right there on the road the bone in his thigh

Had broken and was overlapping so they had to move it back into its proper place Egan claimed I was screaming full gas for the pain I was asking him to give me something for the pain for sure it was not possible he had only paracetamol I had like 12 or 13 ribs

Broken which was really really bad when I arrived in the hospital I was screaming with the pain I saw my mom just when I was coming to the surgery room I said to her no worries it is just the femur and maybe some ribs but I didn’t know actually how big the impact

With the bus was I did not realize that I was like dying doctors told Egan’s family that it would take a day to find out if he could still move his legs luckily he could and although it took time for him to learn to walk and then

Ride a bike again he eventually returned to competing later that year when Egan was later asked about how close he was to being paralyzed according to the doctors he said when people ask me if I’m a bit angry because of the accident or what I think about the accident I

Think my answer is that I’m really lucky to be alive and I just need to thank God because he gave me a second chance when you realize how hard was the impact there is a video somewhere of the impact I just hit the bus with my head going

More than 60 km per hour in speed and I survived I’m able to work and I’m able to have a normal life when you have these kinds of accidents you realize that life is more than just riding a bike I’m lucky to be alive and to share

Time with my family now I think I am happier than I was before for sure I am really lucky to be here only 7 months after his accident he participated in the tour of Denmark at that race he was a non-f finisher and the same happened

In the next two races at the deutchland tour and the Jiro DEA Toscana the first race he finished after his return was the copper sabatini that September where he came out 28th around 6 minutes behind the winner after his 2022 comeback Burnal had a better year in 2023 he

Hasn’t reached the top level performance that helped him win the Tour and the jro but he was able to build a solid foundation for his performance he participated in eight stage races and competed for a total of 79 days since his results weren’t bad by any means he

Got a last minute invitation to join the enios grenadiers tour def France team even though he mainly supported his teammates and finished 36 he recalls feeling strong emotions and being thankful at the end of the 3 weeks I was just selected one week before it was in

The last moment for me it was a really big thing I knew I would go there and would not be able to compete for the GC but it was really emotional for me because one of the things I remember most when I was in the hospital was that

At some point I was thinking that for sure I will not be able to ride a bike again but if I would have to choose one race to do again it would be the tour so when they selected me for the tour it was really emotional it was really a big

Thing for me but just as well as the moment was special it was also quite intimidating at the start he was more nervous than at the beginning of his first ever tour to France but that’s understandable since he didn’t know how he would compare to others and even if

He would be able to make it to Paris after the tour he admitted that at first he felt quite good but got tired and couldn’t really recover well as the race went on he did finish the race though which to him was remarkable when I arrived in Paris it was really really

Nice actually I wanted to enter it last in the pelaton because I wanted to see the Shams Eliz and everything I wanted to just enjoy and to not have anyone behind me then when I finished the race I was even happier than when I won the

Tour I almost cried I had just finished the race that I had wanted to do when I was in the hospital so it was really really nice for me and now Egan’s next challenge is the 2024 season having a successful season in 202 3 was crucial

For his chances of having a good season this year as well noteworthy he didn’t only do the tour in 2023 he also took part in the WTA or espia which helped strengthen the foundation he was building for 2024 his season is set to start in early February at the tour of

Colombia but his 2024 dreams are far bigger I would love to go to one grand tour and be able to do something not just to go and finish I did this step this past year but I don’t want to do this anymore I want to be like a keeper

Person in the team I don’t want to say I want to go to jro or bring me to the tour I just want to perform to be ready to race in every race and to give my best I don’t know if my best is going to be winning the tour or be Mountain

Support or to just bring the bottles but I just want to see where I arrive I am working on it after all Egan Burnal has been through a dreadful experience and only time will tell whether he can achieve the same success he had before if he can once again be competitive in

Important stage races and if he can go head-to-head with the best in big tours but whatever happens going from a 95% chance of paralysis to finishing the tour to France again makes him a winner itself he’ll certainly aim for more but he already feels fortunate for what he

Has he loves the sport and loves the bike and since he’s been given a second chance he feels like he needs to use it