Egan Bernal

Egan Bernal in yellow with team-mate Geraint Thomas in Paris.

A young 22-year-old cyclist from Columbia stunned the sporting world when he won the Tour de France this year after the gruelling 3-week extravaganza that saw over 160 cyclists travel from Brussels towards the Pyrenees, up to the alps and down to the Champs Elysees, where it all ended last Sunday in the heart of Paris. The French cyclist Julian Alaphilippe led the race for more than two weeks, but the younger Columbian waited till the alps to overtake the tired Frenchman. On one of the last stages, a sudden hail storm and an eventual mudslide led to the stage to be neutralized, and the race ended earlier than what was to be the finishing line. At that stage, Egan Bernal had overtaken Julian, and his team-mate Geraint Thomas, last year's winner, crept up to the second spot.

The INEOS cycling team, formerly SKY

Both were on the same INEOS team, which this year lacked former multiple winner Chris Froome, who was seriously injured. The whole nation of Columbia, especially his home town of Zipaquirá, had festive celebrations all through the night and most probably all through this week. So now both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France were won by South Americans, Richard Carapaz of Ecuador, and Egan Bernal, the new star from Columbia.