Colombia's Egan Bernal, at 22 poised to be the youngest Tour de France winner in generations, captivates his native country and sparks a cycling craze back home.
Tears run down the face of a boy watching on a giant screen Colombia's Egan Bernal performance in the twentieth stage of the Tour de France cycling race Bernal's hometown in Zipaquira, Colombia, Saturday, July 27, 2019. Bernal put on the overall leader's yellow jersey after the stage, and barring a crash or a last-minute health issue will become the first Colombian to win the cycling's biggest race when the Tour ends on Paris' Champs-Elysees on Sunday.
“He was always disciplined and a hard worker. You never had to tell him to do something twice,” said Fabio Rodríguez, who discovered Bernal at the tender age of 8 when against the wishes of his father, a frustrated semiprofessional cyclist himself, he enrolled in a mountain biking class for underprivileged kids run by the city government.
For days now, Colombians have been glued to their TV sets watching live every move by Bernal and his British team Ineos. Even President Ivan Duque dipped into a downtown cafe amid a packed schedule of events Friday to watch the final minutes of Bernal’s historic performance when he took the lead while riding through a violent hailstorm.
In a country torn apart by rugged topography and a half century of guerrilla warfare the race has managed to bring Colombians together in a way only sports can. And while the popularity of soccer and other sports have overshadowed cycling, live radio broadcasts of the Tour still saturate airwaves nationwide.
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