Bernal reveals knee injury kept him off bike for three weeks: 'I adapted the plan'

Egan Bernal has been to the moon and back since he last lined out at the Tour of the Alps. He was still a teenager and the race was still called the Giro del Trentino when he made his debut as a neo-pro a decade ago, catching the eye with some assured climbing displays. 

“I feel a bit old, when you say it’s 10 years ago,” Bernal smiled when he spoke to reporters including Domestique in Innsbruck on Sunday. “I’m happy to be back. At the time it was Trentino, I have really good memories of the race.”

By the time Bernal placed ninth in 2017, it was already clear that he was fast outgrowing Gianni Savio’s Androni stable. He would soon graduate to Team Sky, winning the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia before a horrific training crash in January 2022 would alter the tenor of his career.

Bernal has travelled an arduous road since, but seventh overall at last year’s Giro and a stage win at the Vuelta a España marked his best showings since before the crash. The hope was it marked a change in his fortunes, but he has endured a frustrating start to 2026.

A second successive victory in the Colombian Championships, this time in his hometown of Zipaquirà, augured well for the new season, and he started his European campaign with seventh place at the Ardêche Classic. 

A knee injury flared up soon afterwards, however, and Bernal eventually spent the bones of three weeks off the bike. A planned return to Strade Bianche was scratched from his programme, and he also missed Tirreno-Adriatico and the Volta a Catalunya, returning to Colombia to recover, to train and – importantly, as it turned out – renew his passport.

“I had some problems with the knee, in the back part of the knee,” Bernal said. “I had to stop for around 20 days, or three weeks, something like that. 

“After the last race in France, we decided to wait a bit more in Europe to see if I would be able to race the programme I had initially planned with Strade Bianche, Tirreno and Catalunya, because I wanted to do them. 

“But after 10 days without the bike, we knew the best option was to have a big break and recover well. I went back to Colombia and I adapted the plan, so that’s why I’m here.” 

The Tour of the Alps will serve as Bernal’s final race before the Giro d’Italia, where he will set out from Bulgaria as Ineos’ co-leader alongside Thymen Arensman. Like many, Bernal’s primary concern over the next five days is to build his form ahead of the corsa rosa.

“I’m not sure,” Bernal said when asked about his GC aims at the Tour of the Alps, where Arensman is also present. “When you have a big goal like the Giro, you have to be careful with the preparation. I know I’m maybe not in my best shape here, but a lot of riders preparing the Giro are not in best shape yet. 

“In the end, we’re racers, so when we put a number on back, it’s all-in for the victory. Let’s see how the condition is. I think the result will tell us.”