While this season he rode all 21 stages in contention for Senza Fine, last year he doubled the Giro and Vuelta, completing a total of 62 race days during the season. Data that the Spanish team values as it once again needs a reliable three-week driver. Seventh overall in 2025 and tenth in 2026 at the Italian Grand Tour.
The contract ends in 2026.
In the past, negotiations with the British were not an easy task. Network company INEOS extended the Colombian’s contract in 2022 until the end of 2026, a clear vote of confidence although he was still in the process of recovery. David Brailsford supported maintaining a connection with Bernal despite doubts over his return, highlighting both his enormous talent and his ability to overcome adversity and compete at the highest level again.
Now that his contract is coming to an end, negotiations with Egan’s team are going more smoothly. The key to getting out of the island gear: Agree on goals and run the Grand Tour. That race could be the Giro d’Italia or the Vuelta a España, where he has performed at his best since returning. And who knows, the temptation of him being inducted into the Hall of Fame for the winners of all three Grand Tours might tip the scales in the Colombian’s favour.
The Colombian has always publicly thanked the team for their support during the most difficult moments of his career, so a change of scenery will only make sense if he feels that another sporting project could offer a better chance of challenging for the Grand Tours again.
Egan Bernal at the 2026 Tour de France
Upgrade is cool with Netcompany INEOS
As journalist Daniel Benson reported in January, Egan Bernal was very close to extending his stay at Netcompany INEOS on a four-year contract. The deal will keep the Colombian in the British structure until 2030, when he turns 33, and could be the last major contract of his career.
Although the signature has not yet been fully sealed, negotiations have progressed very far, and all indications are that only an official team announcement was missing. However, public confirmation has yet to be received, leaving the door open, at least in theory, for potential market moves.
While an extension has yet to be announced, rumors are already linking Bernal to other teams monitoring his situation. Among the most mentioned are the Movistar Team and EF Education-EasyPost, two teams that, according to various reports and rumors in the market, are following the Colombian’s development very closely.
Despite this, the strongest option today remains to remain with the team that has shaped almost his entire professional life, where he intends to continue to lead a project that aims to get him back into contention for the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España until the day he hangs up the bike.
Average of over 1400 UCI points per season.
In the Movistar team he found compatriots such as Einer Rubio, a reliable bet both in the domestic market and in the general classification of the Italian race, and Diego Pescador, a promising all-rounder with a mid-mountain profile. Both Colombians would welcome Bernal’s arrival.
The “Golden Escarabajo” can shake up the bus of the Navarre national team, which has no spiritual leader after the departure of Alejandro Valverde. Egan is the epitome of charisma and performance.
Bernal is a reliable source of UCI points, even if relegation was not a real threat in the first year of the three-year period. At the time of writing, Movistar Team is just over 400 points behind Groupama-FDJ United, the team currently on the WorldTeam cut-off line. With such performance, the Colombian, whether as a leader or given freedom in the week-long stage races and mountain one-day events, consistently performs well.
In any case, the next few months promise to be decisive. Ahead of the Tour de France, teams that fail to meet sponsors’ expectations will need an end-of-season statement outlining results and target contracts. The future of Egan Bernal will be one of the most talked about storylines on the market.