"On paper the strongest rider is Santiago Buitrago" - Bahrain - Victorious full of confidence heading into Vuelta a Andalucia
Cycling
After finishing third overall last year, behind overall winner Tadej Pogacar and then-teammate Mikel Landa, Santiago Buitrago returns to the Vuelta a Andalucia in 2024 as the undisputed leader of Bahrain - Victorious this time around.
“We have a strong team and on paper the strongest rider is Santiago. Ahead of the race he is our only leader," previews Bahrain - Victorious sports director, Gorazd Štangelj in a pre-race conversation with the team's official website. "The first stage is actually the hardest, and because of that a lot of things could change. There are some strong riders here from other teams, so after day 1 we’ll re-assess, and it may be that we have to adjust each rider’s role.”
With the likes of Damiano Caruso, Jack Haig and Wout Poels in support of Buitrago, the team go there with clear ambitions of taking overall victory. “We have the strongest team, and that brings a lot of responsibility, which we will have to find a way to deal with," acknowledges Štangelj. "We need to pay attention to the details every day … not doing too much work to control the race, and making sure we come to the finish with numbers – more riders in the mix than other teams. If we do that, we can play the game, and win it!”
“Our primary goal is to win at least one stage and to win the GC," the sports director concludes. "We would like to have more than one rider in the top 3 overall, and more than 2 riders in the top 10. I think this is very possible, but of course, even though it looks like we have the strongest team, that won’t be easy.”
Bahrain - Victorious for the Vuelta a Andalucia 2024:
Santiago Buitrago, Jack Haig, Damiano Caruso, Wout Poels, Antonio Tiberi, Fran Milholjević, and Jasha Sütterlin.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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📣 Here’s our team for @VCANDALUCIA 🇨🇴 @SantiagoBS26 🇮🇹 @CarusoDamiano 🇦🇺 @jackhaig93 🇭🇷 @FranMiholjevic 🇳🇱 @WoutPoels 🇩🇪 @JashaStterlin 🇮🇹 @AntonioTiberi4 #RideAsOne #70RdS #rideforGino 🔗 tinyurl.com/yxvwf22d
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