When you have reached the top of your sport at the age of 22, when you are referred to as a “boy wonder” and your own president ennobles you as a “titan and true hero”, then that does something to a young man.

If the optimum is the yardstick for future performance, the height of fall is immense - especially if you were catapulted into superstar spheres so early.

And professional cyclist Egan Bernal fell deep.

"It's been two tough years since winning the Tour," said the Colombian on Sunday.

Shortly after he had stormed up the steep gravel road to the Campo Felice ski station with an impressive ride at the Giro d'Italia, clinched the stage win and put on the pink jersey of the overall leader.

After defending the lead in the classification on Monday, he is now heading into the second half of the Giro this Wednesday as the front runner after the rest day.

"Incredible to be in this position"

There are 22 months between these important milestones in Bernal's career: winner of the Tour de France in summer 2019, Giro leader in spring 2021. Now there is still a long way to go to Milan, the final destination of the Tour of Italy. But it can already be seen that the 24-year-old - an age that still makes him part of the young team in cycling - has found his way back to his old strength. How the lightweight competed in Abruzzo and flew past the opponents with a springy kick - that was evidence of a policy of strength with every turn of the pedal.

“I sacrificed a lot for it, it was all worth it.

It's incredible to be in this position, ”said Bernal, touched.

Quite a few believed that the first South American tour winner would soon land on the ground after his meteoric rise.

The operation to defend the title on the tour failed completely last year.

He, the gifted climber, lost seven minutes on an ascent.

And shortly afterwards, Bernal gave up with a backache.

These complaints should be his constant companion more than ever and, in Bernal's words, still are.

Before the start of the Giro, it was unclear about his form.

Especially with a view to the enormous loads of a three-week tour.

Two legs of different lengths and a slightly crooked spine would have caused subsequent problems.

After the fiasco on the tour, Bernal had paused for a long time until he returned this spring with good results at Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico. Italy should provide the pavement on which he can get going again. As a reminiscence of your own past. Once he came to Italy as a talent from central Colombia at the age of 18 and signed his first professional contract there. The two years of apprenticeship made him grow up and become a real racing driver, says Bernal.

Actually, he should have made his Giro debut for Team Ineos in 2019. A broken collarbone stopped him - but not from winning the Tour de France a few weeks later. Since then, he is certain of the admiration of his compatriots. But the native Bernal can hardly train long at a stretch in the local highlands without being stopped to ask for photos and autographs, let alone go to the supermarket without provoking a crowd. He still comes across as a humble athlete who doesn't particularly appreciate the limelight or speaking into microphones.

But on the bike he is well on the way to covering the curse and blessing of his tour victory with fresh laurel. At the Giro there is a tingling duel with the super talent Remco Evenepoel. The 20-year-old Belgian is only 14 seconds behind, seven other professionals are less than a minute behind Bernal. But the real high mountain stages, in which Bernal's climbing skills only come to full effect, are still pending.

The strong team at his side also speaks for him. Because the Ineos team already demonstrated its great effectiveness in the first half of the Giro. But the British team, which looks like a closed, discreet high-performance system and has receded into the twilight with the affair about a former team doctor who is said to have ordered doping drugs, is no longer acting as rolling control freaks in the peloton. But with capacities for adventurism. On Monday, Bernal and Evenepoel and their helpers fought a bitter chase for a few bonus seconds in a sprint classification. The message is clear: Bernal has come in order not to let anything go wrong at the Giro.