Egan Bernal shows strong motivation for 2027, traveling halfway around the world for Netcompany duties

Bernal hadn’t raced for Netcompany INEOS since the Tour de France, and there was a bigger reason for that than just a longer break.

The climber had come to the conclusion that, above all, he needed some time away from the bike—mentally—to process a roller coaster of emotions. “I’ve made sacrifices I could never have imagined,” he wrote.

Ever since Bernal crashed hard into a stationary bus during a training ride in early 2022, his career has gone from being on cloud nine to a string of setbacks.

He had won the Tour de France in 2019 and came away with the Giro d’Italia in 2021, but starting in 2022, everything changed. Bernal broke numerous bones and spent years working toward a full recovery.

He did that again in a race at the end of 2022, but for a long time he was a shadow of the rider who, up until that year, had been seen as a dominant force in stage races.

There was nothing wrong with Bernal’s motivation. He put in enormous amounts of training hours, rode both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España again in 2023, and by 2024 was once again a serious contender for a spot in the top ten of prestigious stage races.

In early 2025, he seemed to be truly back, having won the Colombian national title. Last year, Bernal set his sights on the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta, with the Tour of Spain in particular standing out as the major stage race missing from his list of achievements.

Although a seventh-place finish in the Giro and a stage win in the Vuelta were impressive achievements following his long rehabilitation, he didn’t come close to contending for the overall victory.

In 2026, the mood shifted somewhat, and Bernal noted on several occasions that he was now in better form than he had been before his crash in 2022.

However, the rising level of his competitors meant that he rode somewhat in the shadows. He finished second in the Tour of the Alps and claimed another Colombian title, but he placed tenth in the Giro, and in the Tour, he was only seen on the attack during the third week.

"After so many years devoted entirely to cycling, I feel that I have given the best years of my life to this sport, both as a cyclist and as a person," he said, explaining his absence following this year's Tour. It almost sounded like a farewell message, but: “Right now, my plan is to simply start again next season.”

That statement was reinforced by Netcompany INEOS, represented by coach Dario Cioni. “It’s clear that Bernal is a winner: he’s not satisfied with a tenth-place finish, and rightly so. After the Giro and the Tour, he no longer felt competitive, so he chose to end the season early. But he’ll be racing regularly again in 2027.”

And so, in mid-October, Bernal flew from Colombia to Europe for a meeting with the team’s main sponsor, Netcompany, in Denmark.

Together with his teammates, including Thymen Arensman, he took part in a social ride of just over 60 kilometers. The visit was extra special, given that Bernal flew back to Colombia after his visit to Denmark.