Colombia arrives at the Glasgow World Championship with a whopping 63 cyclists

From August 3 to 13, the city of Glasgow in Scotland will become the epicenter of world cycling by hosting the highly anticipated World Cycling Championships 2023. This event, organized by the International Cycling Union, will bring together the world's best exponents in 13 disciplines.

The Colombian Cycling Selections will be in the competition, participating in nine of the 13 disciplines. With a total of 63 athletes wearing the national tricolor, Colombia will seek to leave high the name of the country in the scenarios arranged for the competitions in Scottish territory.

Colombian representation will cover a wide range of cycling disciplines, including Road, Track, BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, Mountain Bike in its Cross Country, Marathon and Downhill modalities, as well as Paracycling on track and road. This impressive display of talent is possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Sport and Colombiana La Nuestra, which have supported the development and preparation of national cyclists for this important event.

In the road competition, a total of 21 Colombian athletes will take part in the events to be held on August 5 and 6 in the time trials, and from 8 to 13 in the long-distance races. Among the outstanding cyclists are names such as Rigoberto Urán and Harold Tejada, who will arrive in Glasgow after having competed in the prestigious Tour de France. Likewise, figures such as Santiago Buitrago, winner of a stage in the Giro d'Italia, and Paula Patiño, who is in action in the Women's Tour de France, will also be looking to leave a significant mark on the Scottish roads. Diana Carolina Peñuela, meanwhile, will be looking to add another title to her list of honors in the Vuelta a Colombia Femenina.

In Track, the first discipline to see action at the World Championship, six outstanding Colombian cyclists will compete in the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome between August 3 and 9. Among them is Kevin Santiago Quintero, world bronze medalist in Saint-Quentin En Yvelines in 2022. Martha Bayona, recognized figure of speed in the UCI Nations Cup season, as well as Santiago Ramirez, Cristian Ortega and Carlos Daniel Echeverry, will also be part of the talented national team.

In the exciting BMX Racing, which will take place on August 12 and 13, Colombia will have the participation of 12 athletes in different categories, including Championship, elite, U-23 and junior. In this discipline, Olympic medalists Mariana Pajón and Carlos Ramírez will lead the roster, accompanied by talents such as Diego Alejandro Arboleda, Mateo Carmona, Juan Camilo Ramírez and Gabriela Bolle in the elite category.

A historic event for Colombia will be the presence in the BMX Freestyle World Championship, with Queen Saray Villegas and Luis Rincón competing in the park mode from August 5 to 7. This participation represents an important step for the development and recognition of this discipline in the country.

In Mountain Bike, Colombia will also be well represented, with 12 riders in action. Three of them will compete in the marathon modality, including the double world champion (2019-2020) Leonardo Páez, the 2021 world runner-up and recent national champion, Diego Arias, and Mónica Calderón, national and Pan American champion of the specialty. In addition, Valentina Roa and Sebastián Holguín will compete in the downhill modality, while seven runners will seek to stand out in the Olympic cross country, including Jhonnatan Botero, Central American and Caribbean champion in El Salvador, and Ana María Roa, bronze medalist in San Salvador and national champion of the modality.

Paracycling will also be an essential part of the championship, with 10 Colombian athletes on the tracks and routes of Glasgow. Eight of them will compete in the C category, with prominent names such as Carolina Munévar (C2), Paula Ossa (C5), Diego Dueñas (C4), Alejandro Perea (C3) and Juan José Betancourt (T2). In addition, the team will have a tandem formed by Nelson Javier Serna and his guide Marvin Angarita (B).