Bogotá (AP) – Broken spine, broken thigh, open fracture of the kneecap: The medical bulletin after the serious fall of professional cyclist Egan Bernal reads like a horror report.
The former Tour de France winner is fighting to continue his career. After several operations, the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana north of Bogotá got a slight all-clear during the night. Bernal is stable, everything else will show in the next 72 hours.
Many well wishes
“Get well soon, Champ,” wrote the German professional cyclist Simon Geschke on Twitter, adding to the enormous sympathy in the cycling scene worldwide. “My friend, I wish you a speedy recovery. You are a champion and you will prove it again,” wrote two-time Spanish Tour winner Alberto Contador. “Egan, I’m looking forward to racing with you again,” said three-time world champion Peter Sagan.
Colombia’s President Iván Duque also wished the cycling star a speedy recovery. Since becoming the first South American to win the tour in 2019, Bernal has been a national hero. The drivers’ association CPA warned that Bernal’s accident shows once again how risky the sport is and how much still needs to be done to ensure safety.
The pictures after the crash alone give you goosebumps. Bernal’s bike is completely destroyed on a street near his hometown of Bogotá, his thigh is unnaturally deformed, his training colleagues are standing next to him in horror, and a red bus has an enormous body damage to the rear. Bernal had crashed into the stationary bus with his time trial bike. Speculation remains as to whether it was carelessness on the part of the Giro winner that led to the fatal impact.
Consequences not yet foreseeable
Bernal is now in intensive care for at least three days. After the operation on the thoracic vertebrae, the clinic reported that the functionality and neurological integrity could be preserved. The consequences for his life and career are not yet foreseeable. It sounds unlikely that Bernal will be seen again in a race this year.
The accident is reminiscent of the serious crash of former Ineos driver Chris Froome. The four-time Tour winner was caught in June 2019 at the Dauphiné while inspecting the route of the individual time trial by a gust of wind and thrown against a house wall. Among other things, Froome had suffered a complicated femoral fracture and has not been able to regain his former level of performance to this day. Whether this fate threatens Bernal is completely open. The 25-year-old should at least benefit from the fact that he was almost ten years younger than Froome at the time of his accident.