"I almost died...I'm back! Let's rock!": Egan Bernal looking to the future after successful final surgery

A defiant Egan Bernal is looking to the future following his final major surgery on injuries sustained in last week's horror crash while training in Colombia.

The 2019 Tour de France winner and reigning Giro d'Italia champion took to Instagram to let his followers know the operation on the cervical section of his spine was successful.

Bernal also listed his shocking injuries in the post, including almost 20 broken bones (11 ribs, femur, kneecap, multiple vertebrae, metacarpal and a thumb), a punctured lung, and a lost tooth, but said he was "grateful to God for putting me through this test."

"I almost died, but you know what?" he wrote. "I am grateful to God for putting me through this test. It is the toughest race, but I have had a group of excellent people around me.

"Yesterday [Wednesday] I had my last major surgery and everything seems to have gone well. So now to recover and make this another... I'M BACK!! And let's rock."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Egan Bernal (@eganbernal)

 Doctors from Clínica Universidad de La Sabana in Bogotá also released a statement confirming Wednesday's operation had been successful, showing "excellent clinical results" and no complications.

The patient is already recovering. The objectives of biomechanical stability of the cervical spine were achieved with excellent clinical results, without presenting complications during surgery.

On Monday, Bernal thanked the hospital's doctors and revealed there was a "95 per cent chance of becoming a paraplegic".

"Nearly losing my life doing what I love to do most. Today I want to thank God, and all the specialists at Clínica Universidad de La Sabana for doing the impossible, my family, my partner, friends and all of you for your wishes," he wrote on social media.

The operation was reportedly the seventh time Bernal has gone under the knife since the crash ten days ago, with the 25-year-old remaining in intensive care while doctors "kept intact the neurological integrity" of his spine.

Bernal was training in his home country with a group of Ineos Grenadiers teammates, including Richard Carapaz, Dani Martinez and new signing Omar Fraile.

Although details about the crash remain limited, it is believed Bernal crashed his Pinarello time trial bike into the back of a parked bus at El Roble toll.

> Egan Bernal in intensive care following successful surgery on training crash injuries

The incident came just days after the group narrowly avoided a head-on crash with a motorist overtaking another road user on a blind bend.

Last Friday it was confirmed that Ineos teammate Brandon Rivera was being treated at the same hospital as Bernal, following another training camp crash.

Rivera suffered multiple fractures, the most serious to his elbow, which was also dislocated.