Colombia confirms its sinking into the elite of world cycling after a defining Vuelta a Espana
Cycling
If we analyze it taking into account the current riders we could say that the Vuelta a Espana of the Colombians has been positive. Juan Sebastián Molano got a great stage win in a mass sprint, Santiago Buitrago got into the top 10, Einer Rubio was present in breakaways and Egan Bernal managed to finish another grand tour after having the most complicated year of his life.
This positive outlook, however, contrasts with what we have recently experienced in Colombia, which makes us miss the times when they were elite in the grand tours by stages: Nairo Quintana winning the Giro and Vuelta and hurting Chris Froome in the Tour, Rigoberto Urán getting a podium in the Grande Boucle, Egan Bernal winning the Tour and the Giro, Miguel Ángel López winning the big climbs?
All these incredible successes, the greatest in the history of Colombian cycling, are now far away. Thus, Molano's stage win in a Grand Tour with a low level of sprinters cannot hide the reality of the South American country at this time with respect to the world's elite.
Santiago Buitrago and Einer Rubio managed to win stages in the Giro d'Italia, but with a superior participation in the Vuelta they have not even come close to scratching a victory. Sergio Higuita, on the other hand, has been far from showing the freshness of other years in a very complicated 2023 for him in which he has failed to make the grade.
Egan Bernal, who has managed to finish the Vuelta after having done the Tour de France, is a case apart. There is no doubt that no one could have asked for anything more from the rider from Bogotá. Right now, unfortunately after his accident, he is very far from being the cyclist he was and we do not know if he will be able to return to a similar level;
And little else. As we say, it has not been a horrible Vuelta a España for Colombian cycling, just another grand tour in which its new reality can be appreciated.
Read also
Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
Loading
#LaVuelta23 | 🚴🏻♂️🇪🇸🇨🇴7️⃣🔝 ¡TOP 10! Egan Bernal @Eganbernal 7️⃣ en la etapa 1️⃣8️⃣ de la Vuelta a España 2023 (Pola de Allande - La Cruz de Linares, 178.9 Kms) tras hacer parte de la fuga de la jornada😱🚴🏻♂️🇪🇸❤️🏆🔥👏 🚴🏻♂️🇨🇴🇪🇸❤️ ¡ESPECTACULAR EGAN! #FuerzaEgan 📸©️ @INEOSGrenadiers
1 Comments