“SOS Colombia”: Rad star Bernal sends a cry for help from the Giro


“SOS Colombia”
Rad star Bernal sends a call for help from the Giro

Cycling is a big issue in Colombia, but Egan Bernal’s overall leadership at the Giro d’Italia seems to be a minor matter there. The 24-year-old is very concerned about his homeland and expresses this very clearly in a message.

Egan Bernal opened his heart and spoke warm words of appreciation. He was “nervous”, admitted Bernal, when he gave a speech of thanks to his teammates and supervisors after the self-confident ride in the pink jersey of the Giro d’Italia. The shy Colombian hit the right note. “It’s been two tough years since the Tour win,” said Bernal, “it’s incredible to be back in this position. Let’s stay focused.”

For the first time in his career, the 24-year-old stormed into Maglia Rosa shortly before. With an impressive attack in the gravel final of the 158-kilometer ninth stage in Campo Felice, the captain of the Ineos-Grenadiers team took the overall lead. Tears flowed after his first day’s success on a big tour of the country. On Monday he successfully defended his lead on the 139-kilometer tenth stage to Foligno.

Bernal’s emotional reaction had reasons. A difficult phase lies behind the exceptional talent. It is the story of setbacks preceded by a steep ascent. In 2019, Bernal started as co-captain of the then Tour defending champion Geraint Thomas on the Tour of France. Three weeks later, he was the first Latin American tour winner. Egan Bernal became the “boy prodigy from Zipaquira”, as Colombia’s most important daily newspaper El Tiempo called him in a special edition. President Ivan Duque proclaimed him a “Titan and a true hero”.

More than 40 dead and 1,500 injured

A year later no one was cheering any more. Bernal showed little known weaknesses on the 2020 tour. Persistent back problems made successfully defending the title impossible. Bernal got out before the final in Paris. Now he’s wearing a leadership jersey again, this time it’s pink instead of yellow. He doesn’t want to give it up until the final in Milan on May 30th. The pride of his compatriots would be as great as back then. Cycling enjoys a high priority in Colombia, riders like Bernal, Nairo Quintana or Rigoberto Uran have shaped the great tours for years. Folk festival mood will probably not break out in his home country even if he wins the Giro.

Times have changed – and Bernal is concerned. He recently wrote “SOS Colombia” in an emotional post on Instagram in which he denounced the grievances in his country. The sometimes extreme poverty, the violence, the deficiencies in the health and education system, the oppression by the state – Bernal hardly left a social building site unmentioned. Since the end of April, thousands of Colombians have taken to the streets out of anger over the government’s health, safety and education policies. The protests were triggered by plans for tax reform, which would have hit the middle class particularly hard. The tax reform has since been withdrawn.

According to official information, at least 42 people, including a police officer, died during the police operations against the rallies. More than 1,500 other people suffered injuries. According to information from non-governmental organizations, there were even more victims. SOS Colombia. “What shocked me the most are the dead and the various forms of mistreatment by the authorities against the protesters,” said Bernal, who spoke of “squeezing” the population with a view to the tax plans. Bernal addressed Head of State Duque, against whose government the ongoing protests are now generally directed, personally: “I hope that he will find a solution to all the chaos. Before the country continues to suffer.”

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