Former Tour winner - Bernal after accident: "Almost 20 broken bones..."

Following his serious training accident and another operation on his spine, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal has reported back from hospital for a second time.

"Almost 20 broken bones..." a post on Bernal's Instagram account read. "11 ribs. Femur bones. Kneecap. T5-T6. Parts of the second cervical vertebra. Metacarpal bones. One thumb. I knocked out a tooth. Perforation of both lungs."

One photo showed professional cyclist Bernal in a hospital bed with a neck brace, bandages and tubes. "I almost died, but you know what?" He said he was "grateful to God that he made this stage possible for me. It's the toughest race, but I had a great group of people around me." It looks like everything went well with the last major operation, he said. "So now it's time to recover and make it another I'M BACK!!!"

Bernal was operated on again on Wednesday. "The goals of biomechanical stability of the cervical spine have been achieved with excellent clinical results," was the 13th statement from the La Sabana University Hospital near Bogotá. Bernal has been undergoing treatment there since Monday last week.

According to media reports, the 25-year-old had crashed into a stationary bus on his time trial bike. He underwent several operations and was to remain in intensive care for at least three days. He spoke out for the first time in a dramatic tweet. According to it, he had a 95 per cent chance of becoming paraplegic and almost lost his life.

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