Bernal to undergo second round of neurosurgery after training crash

Cyclist slammed into stationary bus on outskirts of Bogota sustaining injuries to spine, legs and chest

Egan Arley Bernal Gomez of Colombia and Team INEOS Grenadiers after the 76th Tour of Spain 2021, stage 20 in September 2021. Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Egan Arley Bernal Gomez of Colombia and Team INEOS Grenadiers after the 76th Tour of Spain 2021, stage 20 in September 2021. Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

Ineos Grenadiers rider Egan Bernal will undergo a second round of neurosurgery following a crash during training in Colombia last week, the clinic where he was being treated has said.

The former Tour de France winner slammed into a stationary bus on the outskirts of Bogota on Monday, sustaining injuries to his spine, legs and chest. He was rushed to hospital where doctors performed successful neurosurgery.

New tests on Tuesday then confirmed the need for a second spinal operation.

“After advancing in recovery ... new diagnostic imaging was carried out and it was determined, on an interdisciplinary basis, that he will be submitted to an operation at the level of the cervical spine,” the hospital said in a statement.

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“This intervention will favour his process of rehabilitation. We advance with the patient in all his processes of recovery, confident of a swift improvement.

“We will be reporting the postoperative evolution of the athlete at the time the procedure is completed.”

In a statement on social media on January 29th, Bernal said there was a 95 per cent chance of him becoming a paraplegic due to the crash.