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Bernal sustained injuries to his chest, spine, vertebra, femur, patella, and several ribs after colliding with a bus while training in January of 2022, and has found his road back to the professional peloton rather difficult as a result.
A 12th-placed showing at the Criterium du Dauphine solidified his unexpected return to the Tour - a race the Colombian famously won as a 22-year-old back in 2019.
“My plan before the Dauphine was to be on holiday now,” Bernal said in a video call from Bilbao.
“There were a lot of doubts about coming here during the Dauphine but then in the race, I wasn’t too bad and they (the team) took the decision a week after the race.
“During the Dauphine, they told me to stay focused in case I came to the Tour. For me, it’s a big honour to come to the Tour, so it’s not difficult to be focused. Here I am.
“I’m very happy, it’s very emotional to be back at the Tour de France. It’s a race where everyone wants to race, it’s the best race in the world.
“I feel very lucky to be here, and I am motivated to give everything.”
Ineos do not have a designated rider for the general classification and will instead target stage wins through Tom Pidcock and Carlos Rodriguez, with Bernal given a free role to assess how his body responds to each stage.
With overall victories at the Tour and Giro d’Italia under his belt, the now 26-year-old is no stranger to three-week events but admitted it may take some getting used to due to his limited preparation.
“I need to take things, honestly, day by day,” he explained. “It’s my first three-week race for a long, long time. I wasn’t preparing 100 per cent for this race but I’ll do my best.
“The first big objective is not to lose time in the first few stages. Then we can decide what to do. It depends on how I feel.
“The good thing is that I have a free role and we’ll decide what I do based on how I feel and on my legs.”
Not since 2020 has Bernal competed at the Tour and the enormity of his return left him rather emotional ahead of Stage 1 on July 1.
“It’s been a hard few years, honestly,” he said. “I think I should be thankful to be alive and to be at the start of the Tour after everything. I just try to see the good things at this point.
“I’d love to be back at my level, and I’d love to race again in a Grand Tour and see how I can do against the big names that are winning now.
“I’d like to compare myself with them. That’s why I’m still cycling. I wake up and work for that every day, to return to my best level. I’m working full gas for it.
“It would be amazing to reach Paris again and finish my first Grand Tour since my crash. It’ll be a big, big step for me and useful for the future.
“Not only for this Tour de France but also for the Vuelta and the Tour next year. Knowing I can complete this race would be a good thing for me.”
