The Tour de France and the Decisive Mountain Stages

The Tour de France is widely considered the ultimate test in professional cycling. Over three weeks, riders face flat sprints, treacherous cobblestones, and individual time trials, but it is the high-mountain stages that often decide the winner of the yellow jersey. These stages, which feature legendary climbs such as the Alpe d’Huez, Mont Ventoux, and the Col du Tourmalet, demand extraordinary physical endurance, tactical acumen, and mental fortitude. Among the many dramatic moments in the race’s recent history, the breakthrough of Colombian rider Egan Bernal in the mountains during the 2019 Tour de France stands as a defining chapter. Bernal’s ride not only secured him the overall title but also signaled a generational shift in cycling. The high-altitude battles of that July reshaped the sport’s competitive landscape and proved that a new breed of climber could dominate the world’s hardest stage race.

The 2019 edition featured some of the most challenging mountain routes in years, with multiple summit finishes above 2,000 meters. These stages tested every rider’s ability to sustain power at low oxygen levels, and it was here that Bernal—trained in the thin air of the Colombian Andes—found his greatest advantage. The tactics employed on these slopes have since become case studies in modern stage racing, influencing how teams prepare for altitude and how they manage their leaders through the most punishing terrain.

Egan Bernal: Background and Rise to Prominence

Egan Bernal was born on January 13, 1997, in Zipaquirá, Colombia, a small city perched at 2,650 meters above sea level. Growing up at altitude conditioned his body from an early age, giving him a physiological edge in endurance sports. His early career was marked by success in mountain bike racing before he transitioned to road cycling at the age of 17. Bernal’s talent was evident from the start: he won the Tour de l’Avenir in 2017, often considered the under-23 Tour de France, and quickly joined Team Sky (later Team Ineos) in 2018. Within months he became a key domestique for Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas, but team management recognized his potential as a future grand tour winner.

Bernal’s breakthrough on the world stage came in 2019 when he was named co-leader of Team Ineos alongside defending champion Geraint Thomas. Unlike many young riders who are eased into leadership, Bernal was trusted with equal responsibility. His climbing ability, combined with his tactical intelligence and remarkable composure under pressure, made him a formidable contender. His preparation included an altitude training camp in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which allowed him to increase his red blood cell count naturally. The results spoke for themselves: by the time the Tour reached the high mountains, Bernal was ready to produce one of the most memorable rides in recent history.

“Egan is one of those rare riders who can accelerate on steep gradients without appearing to suffer. His pedal stroke is smooth, and he reads a race with an almost instinctive sense of timing.” — Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins

The 2019 Tour de France: A Race of Shifting Fortunes

The 2019 edition of the Tour de France started in Brussels, Belgium, and featured 21 stages covering 3,365 kilometers. The route paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of Eddy Merckx’s first Tour win, with several stages designed to test the peloton from the opening day. The early stages were dominated by sprinters and breakaways, but the general classification race remained tight as the race wound through the Massif Central and then into the Alps. Defending champion Geraint Thomas rode alongside Bernal as co-leaders, a strategy that gave Team Ineos two cards to play—a luxury few other teams possessed. The race turned decisively in the third week when the peloton entered the Alps and then the Pyrenees. The mountain stages of 2019 were particularly grueling, with climbs such as the Col de l’Iseran, the highest paved road in Europe at 2,770 meters, and the steep slopes of the Val Thorens ski resort. It was in these forbidding environments that Bernal’s breakthrough occurred. The altitude, the steep gradients, and the psychological pressure of a tightly contested GC battle created the perfect storm for a young rider to seize his moment.

Stage 19: The Col de l’Iseran and the Snowy Attack

Stage 19, from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Tignes, was originally scheduled to go over the Col de l’Iseran, but due to snow and landslides, the climb was shortened. Nevertheless, the stage still included the massive Col de la Madeleine (17.7 km at 7.7%) and the iconic Col de l’Iseran (12.9 km at 7.5%). On the Iseran, Bernal launched a vicious attack that only Julian Alaphilippe could follow initially. The Frenchman, wearing the yellow jersey, had been heroic in defense but had cracked on the steepest ramps. Bernal, with help from teammate Geraint Thomas, capitalized on the chaos. Thomas paced Bernal back to the leaders after Alaphilippe dropped, and then Bernal countered again, riding alone through the snowy wall of fans that lined the mountain road. He gained 1 minute 33 seconds on Alaphilippe and moved into third overall, setting up his final assault the next day. The image of Bernal cresting the Iseran with steam rising from his shoulders remains one of the defining photographs of the 2019 Tour.

The tactical brilliance of Team Ineos on this stage cannot be overstated. By keeping Thomas as a decoy and then using him as a windbreak for Bernal, the team neutralized efforts from Jumbo-Visma and Movistar. Bernal’s attack was timed perfectly—not too early, not too late—and he sustained a power output of around 6.2 watts per kilogram over the 20-minute climbing effort, according to post-stage data analysis. This performance was remarkable given the altitude and the length of the stage.

Stage 20: The Decisive Individual Time Trial

Stage 20 was a 27-kilometer individual time trial in Val Thorens, with a category 1 climb at the end rising to 2,300 meters. While time trials are not typically Bernal’s strongest discipline, he rode a disciplined and powerful race. He finished third on the stage, losing only 13 seconds to the stage winner (the Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk), but crucially gaining enough time on Alaphilippe to take the yellow jersey. Bernal’s overall victory was sealed that day, making him the first Colombian to win the Tour de France and the youngest winner in over a century since Henri Cornet in 1904. He was just 22 years and 196 days old. The time trial performance showcased Bernal’s versatility—he posted a normalized power output of 420 watts for the 36-minute effort, with an average cadence of 92 rpm, indicating excellent efficiency on the rising finishing straight.

Bernal’s Climbing Style and Strategic Brilliance

What set Bernal apart during these mountain stages was his ability to maintain a high cadence on steep gradients while conserving energy. His seated climbing style allowed him to stay aerodynamically efficient and keep his rivals guessing. Unlike explosive attackers such as Nairo Quintana or Richard Carapaz, who surge then fade, Bernal’s accelerations were smooth and sustained. He also demonstrated remarkable tactical sense, knowing when to follow attacks and when to launch his own. In the final kilometers of stage 19, he waited for the perfect moment to bridge across to the lead group and then attacked when his rivals were at their limit. This patience is rare in a young rider; many would have wasted energy on earlier, less decisive moves. Bernal’s ability to read the race and conserve his matches is a skill that he likely honed during his mountain bike days, where pacing over long climbs is essential.

Another key aspect of Bernal’s climbing style is his reliance on a high cadence (typically above 95 rpm) even on gradients exceeding 10%. This reduces muscle fiber damage and allows for faster recovery on the descent or the next climb. His smooth pedal stroke distributes load evenly across the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings, preventing the localized fatigue that plagues riders who grind a larger gear. This technique, combined with his advantageous weight-to-power ratio (approximately 400 watts at 58 kg, yielding 6.9 W/kg), made him virtually untouchable in the steepest sections.

Altitude Training and Physiological Edge

Bernal’s Colombian heritage gave him a natural advantage in the high mountains. He grew up at 2,650 meters, and his family still lives in Zipaquirá. For the 2019 Tour, Team Ineos organized a pre-race altitude block in the Colorado Rockies, but Bernal also spent time training in the Colombian highlands near Bogotá. This helped him develop a higher hematocrit level and greater oxygen-carrying capacity, both of which are legal within the sport’s biological passport parameters. Studies have shown that riders with a hypoxic training background can sustain significantly higher power outputs above 2,000 meters compared to sea-level natives. Bernal’s ability to produce 6.2 W/kg on the Col de l’Iseran at 2,700 meters was exceptional even by professional standards. This physiological edge is one reason why so many Colombian climbers have excelled in the Tour de France mountains in recent years.

The Role of Team Ineos

Team Ineos (formerly Team Sky) built its reputation on controlling races with a relentless tempo in the mountains. In 2019, the team deployed a two-pronged strategy with Thomas and Bernal. When Thomas faltered slightly in the Pyrenees on Stage 14 to Foix, the team seamlessly shifted its full support to Bernal. Domestiques such as Egan’s compatriot Iván Sosa and the experienced veteran Wout Poels paced him up climbs, protecting him from wind and positioning him optimally before major attacks. Gianni Moscon and Luke Rowe also sacrificed themselves flogging the peloton in crosswind sections to preserve their leaders’ energy. The teamwork was crucial in allowing Bernal to conserve energy for his final attacks. Post-race analysis revealed that Bernal spent less time at his anaerobic threshold than any other GC contender during the three-week race, a testament to the team’s ability to shield him from long efforts.

Rivals and Key Contenders

Bernal’s path to victory was not uncontested. Julian Alaphilippe, the charismatic Frenchman from Deceuninck-Quick-Step, captured the yellow jersey early in the race with a powerful solo win in stage 5 to Col de Blaye and defended it bravely through the Alps. Alaphilippe’s performances were heroic, but his limited time trial ability and mounting fatigue in the third week allowed Bernal to overtake him. Other contenders such as Geraint Thomas, Steven Kruijswijk, Emanuel Buchmann, and Jakob Fuglsang were all competitive but could not match Bernal’s final surge in the high mountains. Thomas struggled with the altitude and a persistent helmet hair problem that affected his aerodynamics; Kruijswijk lost precious seconds on stage 17 after a crash; Buchmann cracked on the Col de l’Iseran; and Fuglsang was simply outpaced. The victory also came despite a crash early in stage 1 that left Bernal with a sore back, demonstrating his resilience. He later revealed that he had taken ibuprofen to manage pain during the first week, but still finished in the top ten on several stages.

Historical Significance and Impact

Egan Bernal’s victory was a landmark moment for Colombian cycling, a country that had long produced great climbers (like Luis Herrera, winner of the mountains classification in 1985 and 1987, and Nairo Quintana, who won the 2014 Giro and 2016 Vuelta) but had never won the Tour de France. Bernal’s win inspired a new generation of Colombian riders and raised interest in the sport across Latin America. The victory parade in Zipaquirá in August 2019 drew an estimated 100,000 fans, and Colombian television ratings for the Tour’s final weekend were among the highest in the country’s history. It also highlighted the effectiveness of Team Ineos’s altitude training and strategic planning. The win was seen as a passing of the torch from the older generation of champions like Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali to younger riders born in the 1990s. Bernal became the face of a new wave that also includes Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and Jonas Vingegaard—riders who combine raw climbing power with time trial ability and tactical maturity.

Bernal’s breakthrough in the mountains also prompted a shift in how teams approach stage racing. The success of a young, pure climber who could also time trial effectively led to a renewed emphasis on recruiting and developing riders with a similar skillset. Teams like UAE Team Emirates, Jumbo-Visma, and Bora-Hansgrohe have since invested heavily in altitude training camps and hypoxic facilities. The 2019 Tour de France remains one of the most exciting and unpredictable editions in recent memory, largely because of Bernal’s mountain brilliance. For an in-depth look at the stage profiles and results, the official Tour de France history provides detailed race data. Deep analysis of Bernal’s climbing power data is available in this Cyclingnews piece. The broader impact of his win on Colombian cycling is explored in The Guardian’s feature.

Legacy and Future Prospects

Since his Tour de France victory, Bernal has faced both highs and lows. He won the Giro d’Italia in 2021 with a composed ride in the mountains of Lombardy and the Dolomites, but suffered a life-threatening crash during a training ride in Colombia in early 2022. The impact left him with multiple fractures in his right leg, a collapsed lung, and spinal fractures. His subsequent recovery and return to racing—he rejoined Team Ineos at the 2023 Tour de Suisse and finished 12th in the 2023 Vuelta a España—have been inspirational. Bernal’s story is one of determination and resilience, proving that even the steepest descents can be overcome. As he continues his career at the age of 27, his breakthrough in the 2019 Tour remains a benchmark for young climbers worldwide. The lessons from that July—about pacing, altitude preparation, and mental fortitude—are now taught in cycling academies from Colombia to Kazakhstan.

Bernal’s legacy extends beyond his own palmarès. He inspired the Colombian government to invest in cycling infrastructure, including a new velodrome in Bogotá and increased funding for youth development programs. The number of Colombian riders in the WorldTour has doubled since 2019, and several have cited Bernal as their motivation. The 2019 Tour de France mountain breakthrough was not just a single victory—it was a cultural and sporting revolution that changed the landscape of professional cycling forever.

Conclusion: The Mountain Breakthrough That Changed Cycling

The Tour de France mountain stages have always separated the best from the rest. Egan Bernal’s breakthrough in 2019 was not just a personal victory—it was a statement that a new generation of climbers had arrived. His elegant climbing style, strategic intelligence, and mental toughness under pressure created a moment that cycling fans will remember for decades. As the Tour de France continues to evolve, with riders pushing the boundaries of what is physiologically possible at altitude, the image of Bernal riding through the snowy moonscape of the Col de l’Iseran remains a powerful symbol of what makes grand tour racing so compelling. His journey from the Colombian highlands to the top podium in Paris is proof that even the steepest ascents can be conquered with the right preparation and the courage to attack when it matters most. For those who want to understand the modern art of mountain racing, Bernal’s 2019 performance is an essential study—a textbook example of how to win the Tour de France with both power and panache. The road from Zipaquirá to the Champs-Élysées is long, but Egan Bernal showed that it can be traversed, one mountain at a time. The race strategy used by Team Ineos is further analyzed by VeloNews.