Egan Arley Bernal Gómez (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers. He won the 2019 Tour de France, becoming the first Latin American winner of the race.
Early life
Bernal was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He is the oldest child of Germán (an employee at the Salt Cathedral) and Flor (a flower factory worker), and raised in the nearby town of Zipaquirá. His father had been a keen amateur cyclist, and he started riding on a second hand bicycle at age five. At nine, against his father's wishes, he entered and easily won a race in his home town, the prize for which included a training scholarship.
He initially focused on and excelled at mountain biking, winning races in Brazil, Costa Rica, and the United States, and getting both silver (2014) and bronze (2015) in the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships junior cross country events.
Professional road racing
Alongside mountain biking, Bernal had begun to gain success in junior road racing both in Colombia and Italy, winning the Clasica Juventudes Cajica and the Sognando Il Giro delle Fiandre in 2015.
Giro dItalia 2021 Ineos Grenadiers | Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year 2020 Ineos Grenadiers | Tour de France 2019 Ineos Grenadiers |