Cycling star - Bernal leaves hospital after crash

After being discharged from hospital, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal from Colombia, who had crashed heavily and undergone several operations, felt like he was having a second birth.

"Happy to be reborn," Bernal wrote on social media. One photo also showed the team - girlfriend, mother, carers - who are supporting him in his rehabilitation. In a short video, he also spoke about how his life had changed from one second to the next. "One moment I was preparing for the Tour de France, and the next I was fighting for my life."

But it turned out that he met good doctors. "I have to thank them for giving me a second chance. It's like a rebirth." Bernal left hospital on Sunday just two weeks after his serious fall. The clinic near Bogotá made the announcement and published photos of Bernal with the staff at the facility.

"The patient is ready to begin rehabilitation. There are no complications, his injuries are stable and in the process of recovery," the statement said. Bernal will take the next steps as an outpatient.

The 25-year-old crashed his time trial bike into a stationary bus during training in his home country. Bernal suffered almost 20 broken bones, including eleven ribs, two vertebrae, a femur and a kneecap. Both lungs were also perforated. Bernal himself had put his chances of not being paralysed at just five percent.

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