Four minutes and 38 seconds. That was the margin by which Egan Bernal beat the Strava King of the Mountain time on Alto de La Herradura in Colombia on Friday 13 November, covering the 6.1 kilometres at an average gradient of 6.5 percent in 31 minutes and 4 seconds. The segment tops out at 3,227 metres, an altitude at which most of his European rivals would struggle to recover, let alone set records.

The number carries weight because of the calendar behind it. In January 2022, Bernal rode into the back of a stationary bus at 62 kilometres per hour on a training ride outside Bogotá. He survived with a fractured femur, a fractured kneecap, broken vertebrae, broken ribs and a punctured lung, underwent several operations and later said he had been given a 95 percent risk of leaving the hospital as a paraplegic.

The Colombian has been building himself back up ever since: first back on the bike, then back in races, and this year back inside the top 20 of the Tour de France general classification with Netcompany INEOS.

INEOS: “He will be back to normal in 2027”

The KOM comes a few weeks after Bernal ended his 2026 season early, with the team confirming he would skip the rest of the autumn to reset.

Read also: “It’s always scary”: Patrick Mahomes opens up on injury before Chiefs return

Sports director Dario Cioni told CyclingUpToDate the decision had been Bernal’s own.

“After the Tour he no longer felt competitive, so he took the decision, quite rightly, to end the season early. But he will be back to normal in 2027,” Cioni said.

Bernal used the same interview to confirm he is not on his way out. The Colombian is under contract with the British team until the end of 2029 and told CyclingUpToDate the plan is to line up for a normal 2027 season.

“I don’t know exactly what the next couple of years will bring, and I don’t think I need to have all the answers right now either,” he said.

Read also: Carlo Ancelotti and Raphinha both sent off as Brazil suffer dramatic defeat to Japan

800 km in two weeks, at altitude

The Strava file is not an isolated showing. Bernal has been stacking training volume since ending his season early: in just the first fortnight of November he logged around 800 kilometres, much of it ridden in the thin air of the Colombian highlands, where oxygen is scarce and climbs like La Herradura are the standard diet.

His margin over the previous KOM holder, who had owned the segment for two years, is not the kind that comes from a single fresh-legged day on the bike. It comes from a rider sitting comfortably at a wattage very few riders in the world can hold at that altitude.

Bernal won the Tour de France in 2019 and the Giro d’Italia in 2021. According to Cioni, the plan is for him to line up as normal at Netcompany INEOS’ first stage race of 2027.

Read also: “100 per cent a red”: Tottenham file complaint after Mathys Tel injury controversy