In races of all kinds, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) has made steady progress back from his terrible accident of 2022. But at least when viewed from the outside, where the Colombian placed second in the toughest stage of the Volta a Catalunya on Saturday behind winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), it felt like another key milestone might well have been reached.
Remaining in the front group of 10 which formed on the toughest climb of the Col de Pradell, Bernal took off after Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) in the last part of the stage.
Pogačar was out of Bernal’s reach, as the Slovenian star has been for everybody this week and extended his GC lead. But after Landa waited for the Ineos Grenadiers racer, the two collaborated well all the way to the finish in a two-man chase behind.
Bernal was then strong enough to snatch a time bonus from Landa at the summit, and combined with the result of distancing his rivals, he moved up six places in one fell swoop, into third overall.
Thanks to his late break, the Colombian is now a full minute ahead of previously third-placed Alexandre Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), too, meaning that barring disasters in the Montjuic stage, Bernal could well be on for matching his best result to date in the Volta, third overall back in 2019.
“It was a very tough stage, I was feeling good through the whole stage and when Tadej attacked, I didn’t even try to follow him [because] he’s on another level,” Bernal told reporters later.
“But in a group behind I felt good and I could jump forward and I could get Landa. We worked really well together. He waited for me because there was a headwind and he helped me a lot. So I have to be grateful to him.”
Bernal agreed that the Pradell, where the race split apart notably, “was really tough. I don’t know if I’d call it the hardest ever, because I’ve done some stages of the Vuelta a España which have been really hard".
“But it was very difficult, although when you feel strong, your feelings on a climb are better, too.”
Bernal is getting a lot of support from fans as he battles to get back to his top level, and he said that hearing so much cheering on the climbs, particularly on Saturday where the crowds were much bigger than usual, was another big morale boost.
“In the last part of the stage, there were lots of people on the sides of the road and you almost get emotional about that,” he said. “The Volta’s always been a race I like very much.”
So far this year, Bernal has notched fifth in the Tour Colombia, third in O Gran Camiño and seventh in Paris-Nice, he noted after stage 6 he had not come into the Volta with a particularly high target in mind.
“I didn’t expect this, actually,” he said. But he nonetheless recognised that what he was doing right now was definite progress.
“For sure it’s another step forward, although I have to keep my feet on the ground and there’s still a lot of work to do,” he concluded. “But I think I should be happy and really proud of myself, too, and I’m proud of my family and everybody who has been with me.”
