Egan has already started competing in 2023 and he did it with his participation in the Vuelta a San Juan, in which he had to leave in the sixth stage due to knee pain. The Colombian had achieved an outstanding fourth place in the queen test, but a physical problem prevented him from continuing. Now, he will have to get ready to travel to Spain where he has already been announced as the leader of INEOS for the Tour of Andalusia, a race that only a Colombian has been able to win, Miguel Ángel López in 2021, who also stayed with the most recent version of the Argentine competition.
Little by little, Egan Bernal is adding kilometers in competition to arrive in optimal conditions for the Tour de France. The Colombian, although he had to abandon his first race of the year, will have no problems appearing in February in Spanish territory and participating in the Tour of Andalusia. INEOS will have seven riders on the route to seek the first place on the podium after disputing the 5 established stages.
“Egan Bernal, Tour and Giro champion, leads a squad made up of Carlos Rodríguez, Tao Geoghegan, Salvatorre Puccio, Connor Swift, Jhonatan Narváez and Omar Fraile”, This is how the announcement of the Colombian’s participation was made, who after this will have to go to Paris Nice that will take place in March.
INEOS has not yet made the announcement official, after what was published by the race it is expected to see Bernal on the road again. The inconvenience he suffered in Argentina was the result of a fall he had on the first day, but it would not cause any problems for him to run in Andalusia.
Wout Poels from the Netherlands is the current winner of the race, he did it in 2022 and the podium was completed by Cristian Rodríguez from Spain and Miguel Ángel López from Colombia. The hosts have the most first-place runners in the competition ever since its first iteration in 1925 (37 in total).