Egan Bernal will ride on with the Ineos Grenadiers through 2026
Egan Bernal will ride on with the Ineos Grenadiers through 2026
Egan Bernal will ride on with the Ineos Grenadiers all the way through 2026 after signing a lengthy new deal, the team announced on Monday.
Bernal, who won the Tour de France in 2019 and the Giro d’Italia in 2021, was already under contract with the Ineos Grenadiers through 2023, but now has a contract that will keep him with the squad for a much longer term.
“It’s really important, signing this new contract,” Bernal said via a team press release. “I am really happy in this team. I am really proud of the team, the staff, and I’m signing now for my most important years. It will be my best years and I want to spend this time with this team.”
Still a few days shy of turning 25, Colombia’s first ever Tour winner is looking to return to contending at the Tour de France after back issues derailed his attempt to defend his title in 2020 and after he targeted the Giro last year.
“I really want to go back to the Tour,” he said. “I skipped last year because of the Giro, but it feels like it’s been a long time since I was at the Tour. So I am really excited about this year. I want to go back having prepared really well, taking a good team, and being there to really enjoy the race.”
With the likes of Geraint Thomas, Richard Carapaz, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Adam Yates also on the roster, the Ineos Grenadiers certainly have no shortage of stage racing talents to back in the Grand Tours, but in Bernal, the team has secured a phenomenal talent whose youth suggests he could continue to lead the team for years to come, assuming his back issues remain manageable.
“We have seen Egan really grow over the last four years with the team,” said Deputy Team Principal Rod Ellingworth. “He’s demonstrated time and again that he is a phenomenal talent. He has also shown that, in the challenging moments, he has a huge amount of courage to pick himself up, lay himself on the line and go again. As a Grenadier and as a teammate, you can’t ask for much more than that. This season is going to be hugely competitive. Egan and the whole team are motivated to go all in and come out fighting.”
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