Egan Bernal - Ineos Grenadiers

This year’s Tour looks made for defending champ Bernal – will he be the toast of Colombia again?

In 2019 the Col de l’Iseran was the scene of a double regicide. Egan Bernal’s audacious, and ultimately successful, bid for Tour glory nearly 40km from the finish would be the catalyst for him taking two thrones.

The first was Nairo Quintana’s – the new Tour champion Bernal was received in Colombia with a fervour that has only been matched by the former Movistar man. While it’s fair to say Quintana still holds a special place in the hearts of Colombian sports fans, it is Bernal that is today’s golden child.

The second, it would turn out, was his team-mate Chris Froome’s. Bernal fulfilling his potential as a Grand Tour winner was doubtless a factor in Ineos team principal Dave Brailsford feeling he could afford to let Froome walk away to another team and still have enough riders on his payroll to win the Tour for years to come.

Now, however, Bernal finds himself at the top of the tree for the first time and all the pressure that brings.

His qualities as a rider are not in doubt. Although he spent much of his early days as a mountain biker, ever since his switch to riding on tarmac he’s been a force to contend with in the mountains. In his first year as a professional with Androni Giocattoli, aged 19, he won four young rider classifications in minor stage races, all off the back of his performance in the hills.