Doctors successfully completed additional spinal surgery on Egan Bernal on Wednesday, the seventh such time the cyclist has been treated on since his horrendous collision last week.
The 25-year-old remains in intensive care at the Clinica Universidad de La Sabana in Chia in Colombia, 10 days since he rode into the back of a bus that had pulled over to allow a passenger to disembark.
In the incident, Bernal fractured his kneecap, femur, vertebrae and some of his ribs, as well as suffering a punctured lung and chest trauma.
All surgical interventions have been a success so far and doctors previously informed that the current Giro d'Italia champion had not suffered spinal cord damage and his mobility would not be affected.
Nevertheless, his situation remains serious, illustrated by the number of surgeries that have been necessary. The latest one was in the cervical vertebrae, positioned around the height of the neck.
A statement from the hospital explained: "After advancing in the recovery of the systems involved in the poly-trauma (skeletal, respiratory and neurological musculoskeletal system), new diagnostic images were made and it was defined, in an interdisciplinary way, that the patient underwent surgery at the level of the cervical spine. This intervention will favour his rehabilitation process."
It continued: "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."
No details have been released about the schedule of Bernal's recovery or when he is likely to be discharged from intensive care.
Bernal himself hasn't made a public comment since last Friday when he explained that he had a 95 percent chance of becoming paraplegic.
The Colombian won the 2019 Tour de France in just his second appearance at the race, and though back pain prevented him from defending yellow a year later, he bounced back by convincingly winning the Giro d'Italia last spring.
