"Now you don't see someone to fight Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard" - Santiago Buitrago recognizes difficulties in Colombian cycling

Santiago Buitrago arrives at the Giro d'Italia with the hopes of trying to make a great role in Bahrain-Victorious. He arrives in great form after finishing eighth in the Tour of the Alps and third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In 2022 he won a stage and should fight for another this year.

Ahead of the Corsa Rosa he has responded to statements made a few weeks ago by Rigoberto Urán in which the EF Education-EasyPost rider, who will also be in the Giro, claimed that Colombian cycling was "finished".

Buitrago, in statements picked up by Antena 2, understands that what is there today is far from the years of great successes of Nairo Quintana and Egan Bernal and does not hide it:

"I understand Rigo[berto Urán] and I understand the Colombian fans. We were used to Nairo 3 or 4 years in a row making podium in the Tour, fighting for the Tour victory and Rigoberto the same. Now you don't see someone to fight Tadej Pogačar or Jonas Vingegaard, or something like that."

However, the Bahrain rider believes that it's one thing if they can't fight with the world's top riders and quite another that Colombian cycling has no life:

"There we do not have someone at that level, but neither is it to say that Colombian cycling is over and that we do not have that there is no one good or one or two. Cycling is changing, it has been changing these last three or four years and it is simply a matter of adapting to this new era of professional cycling."

And he insists on that point: "In Colombia there are 200 kids, U23 that have a lot of talent and I believe that in some of those 200, there will be more than one that can come here in Europe and will continue to give very good results to Colombian cycling".