Egan Bernal: I thought about retirement after life-threatening accident

Egan Bernal has recognised that he thought about retirement during the long process of recovery from his life-threatening training accident early in 2022.

However, the Colombian cycling star has said that seeing how other people had managed to pull through equally challenging situations and reconstruct their lives afterwards persuaded him to continue in the sport.

“I thought about retirement,” Bernal told sports daily AS in a lengthy interview prior to his season start this weekend at the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina, “but when I saw how people [in equally difficult situations] managed to turn things around, that motivated me.”

Bernal also both reconfirmed that the Tour de France, which he won in 2019, “is my number one objective of the season” and that he would perhaps add the Vuelta a España to his program “depending on how the Tour goes.”

Asked by AS what the best thing had been about the recovery process following his terrible training accident on January 24, 2022, Bernal stated categorically, “it might sound odd, but at this point in time I think the best thing that could have happened to me was the accident itself. It was very tough.”

“It sounds obvious, if I could turn the clock back it would be better that it didn’t happen, but once it did and I’m here where I am a year on, I think it was one of the best things that could do.

“I got to be closer to my family, to God, I met some very good people and that’s all thanks to the accident.

“When I have my children and grandchildren I will tell them that Dad was nearly killed when he was 25 because he crashed into a bus, and that way they can understand that even when things are bad, good things can happen as a result.”

During the off-season, Bernal has published some photos on social media in the middle of lengthy training rides and in very tough weather conditions and he said that in general his winter program had gone well. 

His right leg was badly affected when he crashed but he said that it was improving little by little and his training ‘numbers’ were very good. However, he pointed out that racing was where he would really know how well he was going.

“I’m surprised and very happy about how much I’ve managed to do [this year],” Bernal said. “Not even a year has gone past and I’m now thinking about the Tour de France, and not just finish or take part but to try to go for the overall and do it as well as possible.

“If you had told me a year ago, just after the accident and when I’d recently regained consciousness, that I would be thinking about the Tour de France, I don’t think I’d have believed it. Thanks to my family and my team, it’s all been possible.”

However, he denied that his experience and the accident gave him a special or unique point of view. Rather that, it made him realise how “we are all the same. Anything can happen to anybody.”

“What I want to show is that if you set out to do something then you have to fight for that and keep pushing no matter the odds.

“It’s been a very complicated process, months of work behind the scenes, getting up and starting from scratch. Learning to clean my teeth, to eat, all those small steps you have to take and which were very tough at first, but which we could do thanks to passion and determination and which I could do.”

Having participated in the final part of the 2022 season in races in Germany, Denmark and Italy, albeit without major results, Bernal agreed that going in 2023 without having the extra pressure of taking part in events for the first time since the accident was a huge plus. He also expressed his appreciation that top riders like Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) for their concern during his recovery.

“It’s true that when I fell I received numerous messages and during the season many riders you have named kept on writing to me. They showed me that respect,” Bernal told AS.

“If this were to happen to one of those riders you named, I’d be super concerned because it is so hard. And that’s what I take away from all this - the respect others have shown. Some people think there’s a lot of rivalries but on the contrary, we live in Europe and when our paths cross we sit down to have a beer together.”

Colombian cycling

Bernal also had time to discuss Colombian cycling, expressing his deep regret for the near-demise of his country’s leading stage race, the six-day Tour Colombia, and recalling the “kilometres of people lining the route in [his native region of] Zipaquirá and Boyacá.” He stated his deep hope that the race would return to the calendar “but more for the fans than for the bike riders because Colombia is a cycling country.”

As for the enforced absence from the WorldTour of both Nairo Quintana and Miguel Angel López (Medellín-EPM), Bernal said he considered it “a pity. They’re very good. Imagine Nairo’s history and how much the people appreciate him for being that cyclist who gave Colombia new hope. He won the Giro and the Vuelta and it’s a pity he’s not there,” he said.

“At least López got a good team, Medellín was his best option, you could call it Colombia’s best squad. He’s racing in San Juan, he’s already won in Villeta and I think it was a good deal on both sides.”