Mammoth duo attack with Higuita gives Bernal a 'nostalgic' feeling: "I felt like the old Egan again"

Egan Bernal was over the moon with his third place at the Colombian National Championship on Sunday. The INEOS Grenadiers rider didn't mind missing the victory by three seconds; instead, Bernal preferred to focus on the excellent form he had.

Bernal attacked with over seventy kilometers to go, alongside Sergio Higuita of BORA-hansgrohe. They chased together until the finish line but ultimately fell a few seconds short of catching winner Alejandro Osorio. The early breakaway rider, competing for a continental team, pulled off the day's big surprise, but Bernal was also happy after the race.

In a reaction to RCI Noticias, the climber shared that after two years of struggling, he finally felt good on the bike again. Following a serious crash with a bus in January 2022, which left him heavily injured, Bernal spent two years rehabilitating, rebuilding, and making a comeback. His goal is to compete for real results again in 2024.

Bernal races without fear again

The podium finish in his home country was thus a significant boost. "At one point in the race, I felt nostalgic because I felt like the old Egan again. I thought: Damn, I'm going to give it my all. It didn't matter to me if I got dropped, we went full throttle on every climb. That's how I used to race, fearlessly, and I think I felt that again for the first time today."

"That was cool," Bernal says with a sense of understatement. Although participating in the 2023 Tour de France and the Vuelta a España was great, he was somewhat in the background. The still young 27-year-old former Tour and Giro winner wants more. "We understood each other in the chase and encouraged each other. It was a great collaboration where no one held back or played games. That makes racing even more enjoyable. It was all-in and super fast, and I enjoyed that."