A 22-year-old Colombian is one sprint away from making Tour de France history. With one cycling day remaining in the legendary race, Egan Bernal is expected on Sunday to receive one of the most coveted trophies in the sporting world and become the youngest winner in the Tour’s post-war era.
Born into a modest family in the small town of Zipaquira, 42 kilometers northeast of the capital Bogotá, Bernal took to cycling at age 8 after coach Fabio Rodríguez, who had raced in two Vueltas de España, saw in the shy young boy unharnessed skill when meandering the hills of Cundinamarca. Rodríguez stayed with Bernal until the young cyclist reached the age of 16.
Mastering the high-altitude valleys and peaks of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá, Egan Bernal excelled at school and set his sights on becoming a journalist. Riding every day to the Communications Faculty of the Universidad de La Sabana in the town of Chía, near Bogotá, Bernal’s future was not, however, to cover the news but become headline news as the first-ever Colombian to win the Tour de France.
As a Team Ineos rider, Bernal on Sunday will lead the pack through the streets of Paris in the traditional procession after defending his yellow jersey since the Alpine stages of the race.
Congratulations to Egan Bernal and all the Colombian cyclists for a stellar performance in the 2019 Tour de France.
