Whisper it quietly, but Egan Bernal is looking like a stage race leader again

Breakthroughs, in terms of results at least, have been few and far between for Egan Bernal since his life-threatening crash in 2022 but the former Tour de France winner enjoyed his best result in years at the weekend with third overall at O Gran Camiño.

The Colombian finished second on the first mountain-top finish on stage 2 and then survived brutally tough conditions to complete a podium that included double Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ).

For a rider who was contemplating a possible retirement last year, it was a welcome boost in morale for both Bernal and his Ineos Grenadiers team, and while nobody is getting carried away or indicating that the result in Spain will miraculously spark Bernal into Grand Tour contention, a solid result like this is an important stepping stone.

"I’m pleased but also not that surprised because of how he works, his mentality, and it’s really nice to see him continuing to improve all the time,” Ineos Grenadiers’ Director of Racing, Steve Cummings, told GCN.

O Gran Camiño also saw Josh Tarling stamp his authority on the race with a sterling win in the opening time trial. Those times didn’t count in terms of the GC but Cummings was impressed with what he saw from his squad during the race, even if Vingegaard was on another level and claimed three stages and the overall.

“It was a great race, and first of all, the organisation did an amazing job, and the roads were fantastic. The team were good and we had some mixed fortunes but these extreme conditions with high winds, cold weather and rain, it was difficult, and it meant that we had to adapt," he said.

© Dario Belingheri / Velo Collection via Getty Images

Bernal, right, on the Gran Camiño podium

"We managed that, and Josh did a fantastic time trial with huge time margins. That was a very good start and then the next day it was great to see Egan getting second. He gained a lot of confidence but what also stood out was that he was racing really well at the start of stages.

"I don’t know if that was always picked up on with the reports but each stage start was super aggressive and the GC riders were always moving early. Egan was there at the start and he was there at the end, so it seems like he’s taken another step forward, which was really good.

"Overall it was a good start and I’m very pleased with how the lads raced. We enjoyed the challenge."

Still riding into the unknown

Bernal started his season at the Tour Colombia, where he finished fifth overall, but O Gran Camiño was an entirely different test, with poor weather, low altitude and a stronger calibre of opposition to deal with. It’s still incredibly early in the campaign but the results in Spain bode well for the former Grand Tour winner.

Read more: 'I felt like the Egan of old' says Bernal after impressive nationals performance

After the horror crash at the start of 2022, in which he collided with a truck and broke several vertebrae, among other injuries, Bernal made small but incremental progress over the following two years. He returned to competition in August of 2022 and then stepped up with back-to-back Grand Tours last year.

© Stephan Mantey-Pool / Velo Collection via Getty Images

Egan Bernal won the Tour de France in 2019

There was the odd top-10 here and there, and the occasional break in stage races, but this version of Bernal is much improved on where things stood at the Vuelta last September.

That said, the rider and his team are still riding into the unknown, not sure where the limit lies in terms of capacity and form.

“He doesn’t really know himself and we’re still finding that out,” Cummings said.

“In Colombia, he felt pretty good but he was still unsure about how he’d race when he came to Europe. There are always questions when you come down from altitude and stuff like that but I think he’s answered a lot of them. Now we’ll see how he recovers and then find the best programme that we can for him and work with him on continuing to improve.”

Which Grand Tour for 2024?

Bernal was scheduled to race Strade Bianche this weekend but it looks as though the Italian one-day race will be removed from the rider’s calendar as he recovers for his next stage racing objective.

“We’re not quite sure on his race programme. He’s not going to do Strade now and there might be some changes but we’ll discuss that in the next few days," Cummings said.

"Normally we like to be a bit clearer and more precise in terms of what riders are doing. But Egan is a bit of a special case because of his history. He always wants to help the team and perform in every race but he doesn't quite know what to expect. This was definitely a good marker though, so we’ll see how he recovers in the next few days and then make a decision."

Bernal has talked about racing either the Tour de France or the Vuelta a España later this year. He’s provisionally on the long list for the Tour but those plans will come together in the coming weeks and months as Ineos assess the rider’s next set of performances. 

“We’re still not sure what Grand Tour he wants to do but you guys can see as much as we can in terms of the steps forward he’s taken so the next one would be seeing how he copes with a week-long WorldTour stage race. From there we’ll see what Grand Tour would suit him and the team best.”