“You can’t improvise to participate in these kinds of races,” said 25-year-old Bernal during a press conference. “The Vuelta would be too much. Obviously I’m not ready to ride there and it would be too much of a stretch on my body.”
The Vuelta starts in mid-August and is the last Grand Tour of the year. The Giro will start in just over a month, while the Tour de France will start on 1 July. “When you’re in pain, it’s obvious and you can’t go to extremes,” Bernal said. “It would be a dream to get back into action this year, but I won’t give a date. That would be a bit irresponsible.”
Bernal cycled at full speed into a stationary bus during a training session in Colombia at the end of January. He suffered a series of injuries, including a fractured spine, a fractured femur, a fractured kneecap, a chest trauma, a perforated lung and multiple broken ribs.
Bernal currently uses a walking stick to move around.
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