Colombian Bernal in first race after crash

COPENHAGEN • Former Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winner Egan Bernal yesterday returned to professional racing at the Tour of Denmark, seven months after a training crash in his native Colombia almost left him paralysed.

His Ineos Grenadiers team said the 25-year-old had passed a final fitness assessment over the weekend ahead of the five-stage race in Denmark. He finished yesterday's first stage in Koege 2min 6sec behind winner Olav Kooij of Team Jumbo-Visma.

"After what happened to me in January, this has been the moment I've been waiting for," Bernal said. "As humans, we really rely on each other in our times of need, and this year has been a time of need for me.

"I can't emphasise enough how hard the last eight months have been for me, both physically and mentally. That day, and the journey that I have been on since will be a part of me forever, it's something you never forget."

Bernal, who won the 2019 Tour de France and last year's Giro d'Italia, slammed into a stationary bus in January while riding a time trial bike at around 65kmh.

He broke several ribs, a knee cap, a thigh bone, two vertebrae and a thumb in the crash.

The injuries left him with "a 95 per cent chance" of becoming a paraplegic but Bernal was discharged from the hospital a month later and was back on his bike in March, describing that moment as the "happiest day" of his life.

"When you think back to where Egan was only eight months ago, it's incredible the progress he has made," said Ineos deputy team principal Rod Ellingworth.

"Lining up at the Tour of Denmark is a significant and hard-earned milestone. Egan's long-term recovery has and continues to guide our medical and physical programme of support."

Bernal, who remains the only Latin American winner of the Tour, signed a five-year deal with Ineos in January, just days before his accident.

Meanwhile, Tom Dumoulin, who helped Jumbo-Visma sweep three Tour de France jerseys this year, announced his retirement on Monday, saying "the tank is empty".

The Dutchman, the Giro winner in 2017, was also the time trial world champion that year after winning two silvers at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS