🎥 Ecstatic Colombian crowd and tears from his brother: Bernal claims Colombian road title

Egan Bernal was also crowned Colombian road champion after his national title in the time trial. After fantastic team play with Brandon Rivera, the 28-year-old climber from INEOS Grenadiers was by far the strongest in the road race. The former Tour and Giro winner is ready for 2025 after recovering from that terrible accident.

The scenes were terrific on Thursday. In Bucaramanga, Bernal was already super strong in the time trial and was the best in front of an ecstatic crowd. He could finally cheer again after 1,347 days without victory: until then, winning the Giro d'Italia was the last triumph of the INEOS Grenadiers' leader. Colombia was in a frenzy, and Bernal fever was back in full force. People couldn't wait for the rest of 2025.

On Sunday, he skilfully repeated Thursday's trick with the national road title. During this race, all the focus was on him, but thanks to a rock-solid Brandon Rivera, the former Tour winner could somewhat escape the pressure. His teammate forced the race open at 55 kilometers from the finish line. An elite group had formed, and Bernal then pulled ahead himself.

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Bernal by far the strongest; Colombia celebrates

He was joined by Diego Andrés Camargo (Team Medellín-EPM), but 9 kilometers from the line, it was too much for his smaller rival. Bernal went on his adventure alone, riding to the stunning national double. And how: number two Camargo already lost more than two minutes, and number three Kevin Castrillo finished at almost four minutes. It provided fantastic images, as Bernal was shouted to the top along the way in an entirely typical Colombian style. His little brother Ronald Stiven Bernal stood at the finish line: he didn't keep it dry.

It's hard not to feel something when watching these images, especially with the terrible accident of 2022 in mind. In January of 2022, he broke just about every bone in his body after crashing into a parked bus. Recovery took a long time, and even when the Colombian returned to the peloton, he never returned to his former top level. Now Bernal seems back and ready. Keep 2025 coming!

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Tears flow in abundance in Camp Bernal 

Not only did Bernal's little brother shed tears. Cristian Alonso, the Spanish caretaker of INEOS Grenadiers and mentor of Bernal, was there in Colombia. The experienced Spaniard couldn't contain his emotions either. "These national championships were incredible," he commented on Instagram. "Enough has been said about Egan Bernal, but I promise that with the next victory, which I'm sure there will be, I won't cry anymore!"

"These are emotions that I have bottled up for a long time, considering the long road Egan has taken from his accident to these victories, which we wanted and needed so much. All the emotions kept inside for three years have come out with a force that was impossible to control. The feelings were so great that they surpassed any other victory I have had in my 27 years in this wonderful sport. I understand many people don't get it, but I couldn't hide my tears."

Read also

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Overview of National Championships 2025 | Bernal claims historic double after years of drought

📸 Van der Poel on "interesting altitude training" in Livigno: skiing, supercars, and a helicopter

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