INTERVIEW | "The doctor didn't want to go me through" - Santiago Buitrago shares hellish days after Tour de France crash

Santiago Buitrago is one of the leaders for Bahrain - Victorious, and in conversation with CyclingUpToDate, he has revealed that the Giro d'Italia will be his main objective for the 2026 season. The Colombian is stepping away from the Tour de France despite knowing the route suits him best, and details the crash at this year's Grand Boucle that derailed the second half of his season.

Buitrago finished 10th at the 2024 Tour de France and started off the 2025 season with a victory at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana, beating João Almeida in a battle on roads where many of the world's top climbers train and race throughout the winter. It was a promising start for the Colombian.

"Well, yes, I started the year very well. I wanted to start it very well. I always like to start the year strong. Now it's getting harder and harder to win. It's getting harder and harder to get a good result in a race, and I wanted to get it from the beginning," he shared with CyclingUpToDate. "Then I had my fall again in Paris-Nice, where I did a lot of damage. Then I tried again to get in shape. I started to go a little backwards, I didn't recover well..."

Things began to crumble in March as a crash at Paris-Nice took him out of the race, and looked to hamper him throughout the rest of the spring. A sixth spot at Flèche Wallonne did spark some encouragement, a strong result, but it wasn't backed up at Liège-Bastogne-Liège where he has previously finished on the podium.

"Then I went home to prepare for the Tour. I prepared in the best way, and I fell in the Tour and everything went backwards," he shares. A year marked by crashes. "But I had a lot of opportunities, I tried. The days that I felt really good, I tried," such as stage 16 up to Mont Ventoux, where he finished third. "It was a hard year, but I'm happy that I was able to get through it".

It was on the 7th stage of the Tour that Buitrago's Tour figuratively came to an end. Before the riders reached the Mûr-de-Bretagne, there was a crash involving several important men at high speed during a descent. Buitrago did not abandon the race, but was never again the same, whilst João Almeida and his teammate Jack Haig were indeed forced to abandon.

"I was doing very well in the Tour. I hadn't lost anything in the time trial. I was there, I felt confident. That day I remember I with Jack for the last 10 kilometers. We were going very fast and I fell very badly," he recalls. "They fell on top of me and I had a contusions in the hip and in the whole back. And I didn't recover. I didn't recover every day. To sleep, it was very bad. The doctor didn't want to get me through".

But Buitrago persevered, looking to take something from a race which he spent months preparing, and the whole year thinking about. "Because I wanted to finish the Tour de France, you know? I had prepared a lot and I didn't want to go home without trying" As I told you, there were stages where I tried, but this year it was hard. I was able to finish the Tour. It would have been smarter to go home, recover and go back. But that's how the year went by".

He then went to the Vuelta a España as well, but didn't have better luck. A fourth place on stage 15 to Monforte de Lemos from the day's breakaway was his best result. "Well, it was also a decision on my part. I was going back with a free role, a role to look for a stage. And that's how it was. I wanted to try to go through stages. I was always close but I didn't win".

After preparing for the Tour de France two years in a row, Buitrago is going back to the Giro d'Italia in 2026. "Next year I will do the Giro d'Italia. We are watching it with the team. And it's my big bet for next year". He explains the why, despite knowing that the Tour route favours him more with a short and hilly time trial, over the Giro's long and pan-flat battle against the clock in Massa.

"Yes, I have decided to go to the Giro because it has been two years going to the Tour. And the truth is that each year is more complicated. In the end, when you bet on the Tour, it's like the only goal in the year and it takes away a lot from what is left of the season. So, no, I prefer to go to the Giro". Buitrago wants to keep his options open for the second part of the year. But for the first half, his schedule is already decided on.

"For now, I know I'm going to start in Tour Down Under. Then I will go back to Colombia for the national championship. And in Europe I will come back to do the Tirreno-Adriatico, Volta a Catalunya... And from there to the Giro". As most GC contenders, he will take an altitude camp before the Corsa Rosa, and not do any race - at least, that is what has been decided for the time being. 

"I know that the Tour route this year would be better for me, but I want to do well in the Giro. There is a very long time trial with 40 kilometers. But no, with the team we are innovating a lot, I think there is a lot of mountain. And I think that the goal we have with the team, we can do it without any problem".