Rider Profile

Egan Arley Bernal Gomez

Ineos Grenadiers

Egan Arley Bernal Gomez

Personal Details:

Nationality Colombia
Date of birth 13/01/1997

Biography:

Egan Bernal began his professional cycling career after being scouted by Italian manager Gianni Savio, who signed him to the Androni Giocattoli team in 2016 and then sold his contract to Team Sky for the 2018 season.

Bernal quickly learned the ropes of racing in Europe, winning the Tour de l'Avenir in 2017 after finishing just off the podium the previous year. He also finished in the top 10 of the Vuelta a San Juan and Tour of the Alps, took fourth in the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, and won the overall Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc and Sibiu Tour.

Upon joining the WorldTour in 2018, Bernal won the best young rider jersey in the Tour Down Under, won the Colombia Oro y Paz and the national time trial title, finished second in the Tour de Romandie and won the time trial stage there ahead of Primož Roglič and Richie Porte. He also won the Tour of California and was selected for the Tour de France where he finished 15th and proved to be a valuable teammate for winner Geraint Thomas.

In 2019, Bernal won Paris-Nice and Tour de Suisse and took third in the Volta a Catalunya before heading to the Tour de France, ostensibly to support Thomas in his title defense.

When Thomas faltered in the high mountains, Bernal moved into second overall with Thomas in third, five seconds behind as Julian Alaphilippe started to lose his grip on the maillot jaune.

On stage 19 to Tignes, Bernal went on the attack and was away solo on the Col d'Iseran when news came over the race radio that a landslide had blocked the road in the valley and organisers were forced to neutralise the stage. They took the time for GC at the top of the Iseran, putting Bernal into the race lead. The next stage was also shortened by storms and Bernal sailed into Paris to win the  2019 Tour de France over Thomas by 1:11.

He suffered from back problems in 2020, dropping out of the Tour de France but returned to top form and won the Giro d'Italia in 2021.

Before the 2022 season, Bernal crashed head-first into a stopped bus while training on his time trial bike in Colombia and suffered life-threatening injuries. It took him the better part of the year to return to competition and he has since not regained his previous form. Although he hasn't regained is form of 2019, Bernal has competed in two Grand Tours in 2023; Tour de France and Vuelta a España, in addition he finished 8th overall at the Tour de Romandie and 12th overall at the Criterium du Dauphine. His form has continued to slowly improve, and in 2024, Bernal finished 5th overall at the Tour Colombia, 3rd overall at O Gran Camiño, 7th overall at Paris-Nice, 3rd overall at Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, 10th at Tour de Romandie, and 4th at Tour de Suisse, showing consistency as he approaches the next two seasons 2025 and 2026 with Ineos Grenadiers.



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