Tour de France 2019 news - Egan Bernal living the dream after winning Tour

"Colombia is on the verge of winning its first Tour - I feel this is not only my triumph but the triumph of a whole country," said the 22-year-old. "We already had the Giro, La Vuelta, but the Tour was missing and it’s a great honour to think that I’m the one achieving this.

"My dad couldn’t talk at first but when he managed, he congratulated me. He was about to cry. For us, it’s a dream."

As a child, Bernal watched the Tour on television - but never imagined that he would compete, let alone win.

"As a kid, you think, 'how cool it would be to be there one day,' but it looked so far away," he said. "Here we are and I’m very emotional."

Bernal was a little hesitant to celebrate too soon, though - pointing out that there was still a stage left, even if it is the processional to Paris.

"There’s one stage left, but normally if everything goes well, I can say that I’ve won my first Tour," he said.

"I just want to get to the finish line in Paris tomorrow - and after I’ll be calmer."

Bernal wondered whether the broken collarbone that kept him out of the Giro d'Italia had actually been a blessing in disguise - meaning he focused all his attention on the Tour.

"Two hours after the crash, before the Giro, when I was still in pain, almost crying, I asked my coach how much time we have before the Tour and I started thinking about the Tour," Bernal said.

"Maybe that happened for a reason and now I'm about to win the Tour de France, it's really incredible.

"I don't know if it's called fate or destiny that if I hadn't crashed before the Giro, I would not be in that position today."