Bogota (AFP)

The Colombian Egan Bernal, winner of the Tour de France in 2019, announced on Saturday on his Instagram account that he was drawing a line on the 2020 season.

“I want to tell you that I will not be competing again this year,” said the 23-year-old cyclist.

"After the health problems I had at the Tour de France, I am 100% focused on my recovery and my return to competition in 2021," said the winner of the 2019 Grande Boucle.

Bernal, one of the youngest champions in the history of the Tour (22 years and 196 days), had abandoned the 2020 edition on the morning of the 17th stage.

Victim of back pain during his preparation, the leader of the Ineos team performed well far from expected expectations: at the time of his retirement, he was 16th in the general classification at 7:04 p.m. behind the leader.

The Colombian, under contract with Ineos until 2023, assured that after his abandonment, he had lived "complicated times" but hopes to return to feel "good on the bike, without pain".

The champion of the Tour of Switzerland 2019 has thus ruled out his participation in the Tour of Spain 2020, which will be run in November and will be the last big tour of a cycling calendar upset by the pandemic.

jss / be / bpa

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