After five operations and 'almost dying', cyclist Egan Bernal leaves hospital

Tour de France champion Egan Bernal, who said he "almost died" after smashing into a bus during a training run, was discharged from hospital on Sunday, two weeks after the horror crash. The 25-year-old broke 11 ribs, a knee cap, a thigh bone, two vertebrae and a thumb, as well as puncturing both lungs, in the January 24 accident while riding with his Ineos Grenadiers teammates near Bogota. He underwent five bouts of surgery. "For me, just being alive is like a rebirth," Bernal said Sunday in a video sent to the media after his discharge from the University Clinic of La Sabana, on the outskirts of Bogota. A photograph posted by the clinic showed Bernal wearing a protective neck brace and flanked by two members of the medical staff whom he "thanked" for giving him this "second chance".

"At one point I was preparing for the Tour de France, I was giving it my all in the (training) time trial, and the next second I was fighting for my life," he said. The clinic added: "He is now able to continue his rehabilitation process." On Thursday, Bernal had recalled the crash. "I almost died but I thank God for this test," he said.

Specialist climber Bernal is the star rider at Ineos and aged just 22 won the Tour de France in 2019. He is the reigning Giro d'Italia champion, and was in pre-season training for a fresh Tour de France tilt when he crashed in the Andean mountains near his home. Traffic police said he was "so focused" that he did not hear warning shouts from his teammates that the bus in front of him had stopped.