Zipaquira, Colombia – Egan Bernal grew up at altitude and won the Tour de France on the highest slopes, but he learned to ride in the foggy forests around his home town.
Bernal was born in Bogota and grew up 42 kilometers north in Zipaquira, a mining and agricultural town, which sits at an elevation of 2,650 meters in a valley surrounded by mountains.
His father was a watchman and his mother graded cut flowers for export.
On Sunday, 22-year-old Bernal is poised to become Colombia’s showiest sporting export: the country’s first Tour de France winner and the youngest of any nationality since 1909.
As a child, Bernal took up cross-country biking and trained in the nearby woods under the guidance of Fabio Rodriguez, a Zipaquira native who had ridden in the Spanish Vuelta.
Young cyclists can hear the roar of a chainsaw and see other youngsters earn their living by cutting down huge trees and carrying them on their shoulders to trucks.
“That’s why I keep telling kids that it’s better to get up early and train by bike,” Rodriguez told AFP.
On Saturday, Bernal dedicated his victory to Pablo Mazuera Zambrano, “my first manager.”
Mazuera told AFP that financial pressure almost persuaded the youngster to give up, despite a silver in the world junior cross-country championships in Norway in 2014 and a bronze in 2015 in Andorra.
“He came from a very low income family,” Mazuera said.
“He started at university, in media studies,” said Mazuera. “He got a scholarship.”
“He wanted to quit because he wanted to be a journalist.”
After the finish on Saturday, Bernal thanked Mazuera.
“At one point, I stopped riding,” Bernal said. “He told me to try. Thanks to him I’m riding a bike. He’s guilty.”
Bernal was recruited by Italian Gianni Savio who needed a climber for his Androni team. After two promising years, Sky swooped and bought his contract for 250,000 euros.
“He’s a good person,” Savio told AFP. “He has kept the humility he had when he joined our team.”
In June, Bernal won the Tour of Switzerland but insisted the victory did not change his role at Ineos behind 2018 Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas.
“Geraint will be our leader and my job is to help him,” Bernal said.