Egan Bernal has returned to his road bike, just over two months on from the training crash which could have paralysed him.
The Ineos Grenadier rider posted photos of himself on social media to celebrate the milestone. He was out on roads north of Bogotá in his home country of Colombia, as he continues his recovery from the incident. Bernal was pictured with people including brother Ronald, and his teammate and friend Brandon Rivera.
“The happiest day of my life,” said Bernal on Instagram. “After 2 months and 20 broken bones, here I am, and I want more!”
The severe crash he was involved in at the end of January left him requiring seven separate surgeries to treat the 20 broken bones and two collapsed lungs he suffered in the incident.
The Colombian has previously said that still being alive is like being "born again", and that he was given a "second chance".
He left the Clínica Universidad de La Sabana, north of Bogotá, on Sunday after spending 14 days there. He also previously said that the accident left him with a "95 per cent chance" of becoming paralysed.
The injuries occurred on January 24 when Bernal rode into the bus at close to 65kph while on his time trial bike. Being on the road bike is the latest step to be documented on social media, after he has shown himself walking unaided, on a stationary bike trainer and then later on an upright one.
His coach Xabier Artexte told La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this month that Bernal could return to racing even this year.
"I have always told the team doctor: yes, I have faith that he will return to the highest level. I know what I'm saying has no scientific basis, because you can't know what's going to happen," he said.
"But I see him working, and once he has achieved strong musculoskeletal stability again, he may even be able to correct some decompensation that was there before, and be more balanced."
"He's motivated and has an incredible desire to return," he added. "It will also be stronger psychologically. Without forgetting that in a path like yours you don't always improve, there could be occasional small pains, moments of tiredness, a few steps backwards. Fortunately, up to now, there have been no problems."
