Egan Bernal ends racing comeback early, returns to Colombia for surgery
Egan Bernal ends racing comeback early, returns to Colombia for surgery
After returning to racing in August following his serious crash at the start of the year, Egan Bernal has ended his comeback to racing earlier than planned in order to undergo further surgery in preparation for 2023.
The 25-year-old returned to the peloton at the Tour of Denmark in August followed by the Deutschland Tour, before also competing in two Italian one-day races in mid-September. He was then slated for the Cro Race and a return to WorldTour competition at Il Lombardia in October, but will instead fly home to Colombian to receive knee surgery, Gazzetta dello Sport reports.
The kneecap operation, which had always been planned to take place at some point, will aim to clean the joint below it (sounds delightful) as he looks to rebuild for the 2023 season. Having signed a five-year deal with the Ineos Grenadiers before the crash to keep him at the team until 2026, and with the departures of Richard Carapaz and Adam Yates, as well as the ever-aging if not sturdy Geraint Thomas reaching his twilight years, the rehabilitation of the Colombian is of paramount importance to the British squad’s future fortunes.
As well as a successful return to racing, registering only one DNF at the Giro della Toscana, Bernal took part in an Andorran altitude camp in July with his Ineos teammates who were preparing for the Vuelta a España.
Bernal has kept everyone up to date with his progress via his Instagram account, posting photos of his racing return alongside captions including “getting better” as well as the more confusing “keep adding kms thinking about a 2023 good bastard”. Whatever or whoever the ‘good bastard’ is, it’s good to see the Colombian on the road to recovery.
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