Rigoberto Urán, one of the most prominent names in the world of Colombian cycling, once again expressed his concern and regret for the current situation of cycling in Colombia. Urán's words are a true reflection of the drop in the level of cycling in the South American country in recent years.
"It screwed us all," Urán stated bluntly, referring to a crucial aspect that deeply affected Colombian cycling: Egan Bernal's accident in early 2022. On that occasion, the Tour de France champion was involved in a collision with a fleet of vehicles, an incident that, according to Urán, had a devastating impact on the morale and performance of Colombian cyclists.
Urán's sincerity is remarkable, and his words are a reminder that, in the world of sport, even the most successful athletes can face difficult times. The current season has not been Urán's best, and this adds to a difficult time for Colombian cyclists in general, who are struggling to keep pace with the best in Europe.
The absence of a Colombian rider in the elite of world cycling is evident when you look at the names that dominate the competitions. Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel are some of the names at the top of the list of the biggest stars in cycling today, and Colombia is conspicuously absent from this constellation of talent.
The crisis is further exacerbated when recent results are analyzed. Colombia has failed to achieve even a top 10 finish in the grand tours so far in 2023, and the possibility of a performance close to that level in the current Vuelta a España seems very distant.
In the interview with Semana, Urán identified Egan Bernal's crash in 2022 as a critical turning point in the trajectory of Colombian cycling. Urán regretted this event and expressed his concern about the lack of Colombian cyclists competing in the grand tours.
"If we look at who was the last Colombian to win a grand tour on the podium, we have to go back to 2019 with Egan Bernal, who won the Tour de France," Urán said. "Unfortunately, we have faced difficulties, like Egan's crash, which affected all of us. Also, the issue of Nairo and Superman (Lopez), they are very strong riders who could be in Europe winning races, representing Colombia. So, let's say that something is missing".
Rigoberto Urán's words highlight the urgency of recovering the prominence of Colombian cycling on the world stage and offer a vision of the situation from the perspective of an experienced cyclist who longs to see his country once again at the top of the cycling sport. The hope and commitment of Colombian cyclists, led by figures like Urán, could be the key to overcoming this difficult stage and returning to glory in major cycling competitions.
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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.
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- 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
- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
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Definiendo detalles porque ya se acerca el gran día 👌💯 ¡Muy pronto podrás vivir una experiencia irreverente!
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