Doctors don’t put timeline on Egan Bernal recovery

Colombian doctors are hopeful Egan Bernal will have a full recovery, they’re just not ready to say how long it will take.

The 2019 Tour de France winner’s family updated his condition overnight, saying early signs are encouraging the Colombian star will fully rebound from his devastating crash last month.

Whether he can race a bike again remains to be seen.

“We do not have an estimated time for his return to the bike and training,” a media note read. “That will be determined once he begins therapy and we see some improvements.

“Right now, Egan is very happy and thankful because, despite the circumstances, he has the full certainty that he is alive and full mobility in all of his body. Up until now his recovery has been very fast, and we hope that it continues like this going forward.”

Also read:

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• Ineos Grenadiers sticking to grand tour script
• Explainer: How the crash happened
• Egan Bernal leaves hospital to begin recovery

Bernal, 25, left a Colombian hospital Sunday two weeks after a horrific, high-speed crash on January 24. Bernal underwent five surgeries and broke more than 20 bones, including his femur and patella as well as two vertebra.

The update said staffers from the Ineos Grenadiers team and the medical team are working together to outline a rehabilitation program for Bernal, with the priority first on Bernal’s overall health and recovery.

“Ineos Grenadiers, along with the Clínica La Sabana and other specialists, are planning on his recovery so that his body is fully functioning,” a note said. “The priority is on rehabilitation.”

EL AGUANTE!! 🤘🏽
Feliz de volver a nacer 😌 pic.twitter.com/qODpvr3ktL

— Egan Arley Bernal (@Eganbernal) February 7, 2022

On Tuesday, a Colombian TV channel released surveillance video from a nearby warehouse that captured images of Bernal’s impact.

The video, recorded from several hundred meters away from the site of the impact, shows a grainy image of Bernal striking a bus at a high rate of speed on January 24, revealing just how brutal the impact was.

Police also revealed photographs of the time trial bike Bernal was using at the time of the crash. The carbon-fiber frame was broken into two pieces along the top and down tubes from the brute force of the impact.

Bernal released a photo of himself moving in a wheelchair from his home, where he begins a long rehabilitation and recovery.

“I am very grateful,” Bernal said Sunday. “One moment I was preparing for the Tour de France, and the next second, I was fighting for my life.”

On Monday, Bernal posted a photo on social media of himself surrounded by family and friends, with the message, “Happy to be reborn.”