Movistar talent hopes to follow in footsteps of Isaac del Toro at the Tour Down Under: "I'm delighted to be making my WorldTour debut in the same race as him"

Diego Pescador's debut in the WorldTour has not been long in coming. The 20-year-old Colombian signed with Movistar Team in the last cycling market as one of the great promises of cycling. The Spanish team has taken him immediately to the first big race of 2025 - the Australian Tour Down Under.

The Colombian climber gave his impressions of the TDU in an interview with Cyclismactu and made it clear that he's not here to ride around: "I have prepared for the heat in Australia by training at home in similar temperatures. I feel well trained, I have good legs and I had a good feeling during the opening criterium on Saturday afternoon. That gives me hope to be useful to the team in this Tour Down Under. I'm here first and foremost to learn a lot, to do a series of race days and I'm looking forward to the Willunga Hill stage (stage five on Saturday) because it has terrain I like."

In an ideal scenario, he would've liked to follow in the footsteps of certain UAE Team Emirates rider made great strides during his debut in Australia in 2024: "Last year I watched this race on television and I think of Isaac Del Toro, who has always been a source of inspiration for me. I'm delighted to be making my WorldTour debut in the same race as him a year later. I'm not saying I'm necessarily going to do as well as him, I want to see how it goes day by day, how my body will react to the efforts at this level of competition, but first and foremost I want to be at the service of my team."

The Movistar Team rider reveals part of the calendar he will have after the Emirati race, which includes several races in Spain. "For this first season in the WorldTour, I have high hopes. I hope it will be a great year and why not take one opportunity or another a little later in the season on a personal basis. When I come back from Australia, I will participate in the Vuelta a Murcia, the Clásica de Almería and O Gran Camiño. I have a lot of races on my program and I'm looking forward to the more mountainous races in the hope, above all, that I'll be lucky," he concludes.