Bernal upbeat and ‘back soon’ after collarbone setback

Former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal took his latest injury setback in his stride Monday after breaking a collarbone in a fall followed swiftly on the heels of a return to form.

After winning the Colombian road race and time trial titles earlier this moth Bernal was caught in a mass crash at the Clasica Jaen late in Monday’s race, won by his Ineos teammate Michal Kwiatkowski.

Bernal won the Tour in 2019 and the Giro d’Italia in 2021 before a brush with death in a training crash in Colombia in 2022 almost ended his career.

The 28-year-old specialist climber hadn’t won a single race since his high-speed collision with a bus until the two national titles.

“I was feeling really strong and obviously I’m sad to have crashed, but at the same time the way I felt during the race gave me a lot of confidence and motivation to keep working hard, the season (ahead) is very long,” he said after release from hospital. 

“I’ve felt very good in the three races that I have done, so I just have to keep working and I hope to be back soon.”

Bernal had been active in setting up teammate Kwiatkowski on the ten rider crash ended with a trip to hospital.

Bernal had been targeting an Italian campaign at the one-day Strade Bianche and the  Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, before a potential tilt at a second Giro d’Italia title.

“Egan will remain under the expert care of the INEOS Grenadiers medical team, and a comprehensive recovery plan will be implemented to support his return to training and racing,” the Ineos website said.