Unless you just showed up from Jupiter, you already know Tadej Pogačar has been almost impossible to beat these last two seasons. Egan Bernal knows it too. In a chat with WIN Sports as reported by Wielerflits, the Colombian got real about racing someone who might be the best ever.
“He is currently racing at a different level. When you have to compete against him, he often makes you feel like you’re a bad rider. That makes me angry,” Bernal said.
Pogačar pushes the whole field higher
Still, Bernal dialed back the annoyance a bit. “You put in all this work to get ready. Then one guy just pulls away like it is no big deal. Your mind starts playing tricks on you, not always in a good way. But racing against Tadej is pretty cool in the end. He forces everyone to step up their game. It is wild to be right there in the middle of the Pogačar years,” he said.
Recent races have built his belief back up. “This season I finally started feeling like my old self.I got stronger overall. I ended up seventh at the Giro. For the Vuelta I went after a podium spot. It did not quite work out. But I still figure I can grab a Grand Tour win someday,” Bernal, 28, said.
The comeback
Bernal made his comeback after some rough times. He took the 2019 Tour de France and the 2021 Giro d Italia. Then in 2022 a scary crash hit him hard. He was training in Colombia and slammed into a bus that had stopped, going about 50 km per hour on his time trial bike. The damage was awful. Over 20 fractures showed up. His lung got punctured. Ribs broke. Chest took a bad hit too.
Doctors said things looked grim. They gave it a 90 percent shot he would not pull through. Or if he did, paralysis was likely. Bernal pushed through anyway. Months of tough rehab followed. He got back on the bike outside and called it the best day ever. Late in 2022 he jumped into the Tour of Denmark. Full speed was not there yet. But he was riding again.
Progress in 2023 came bit by bit. He placed eighth overall at the Tour de Romandie. At the Vuelta a España he came in 55th. Things picked up more in 2024. Seventh at Paris Nice felt solid. He grabbed second in the Tour de Suisse king of the mountains. Then 29th at the Tour de France.
2025 brought some fresh wins. Bernal claimed the Colombian national time trial title. He covered 43.2 km in 50 minutes and 51 seconds. That put him seven seconds up on Walter Vargas. Just days after, he owned the national road race. The 237 km route did not faze him. He finished more than two minutes clear of Diego Camargo.
And of course, who can forget his incredible win at the 2025 Vuelta a España? The Ineos – Grenadiers rider took a terrific win on Stage 16, from Stage 16 Poio to Mos. Castro de Herville.