¡Qué grande es Rodrigo Contreras! Les ganó a las fieras ecuatorianas e hizo respetar la casa en el #TourColombia, que sigue siendo para los locales. ¡Enorme campeón! ¡Grande el escarabajo de Villapinzón!
Rodrigo Contreras smashes World Tour competition and wins Tour Colombia in style: "When I saw a champion of the Tour de France, of the Giro d'Italia, I said I couldn't lose"
CyclingSunday, 11 February 2024 at 19:15
Rodrigo Contreras has gone down in the history of Colombian cycling this Sunday, February 11, 2024, after winning the general classification of the Tour Colombia. The Nu Colombia team rider became the first rider of all time in the race to win without belonging to the World Tour peloton, and after withstanding the attacks of Richard Carapaz in the final day of racing.
Speaking after his victory, Contreras couldn't help but show his emotion for having achieved something memorable, assuring that it gave him strength to find himself among riders of the highest level: "Incredible. When I saw a champion of the Tour de France, of the Giro d'Italia, I said I couldn't lose. I suffered a lot to get there. I pushed hard in the mountains and made it to the finish well. On the descent I kept my legs and the tactic worked and I arrived strongly to the sprint".
On becoming the first non-World Tour Colombia champion, Rodrigo Contreras said how important it is for his country's cycling to have achieved something like this: "The victory is historic for me and for Colombia because we were able to beat the teams from abroad so that they understand that there is also a high level of national cycling.
Finally, the 29-year-old did not forget to thank the help of his team to get this special triumph: "It was a difficult day. I had a sensational team. Daniel Méndez was key. I did not despair, and I told him to regulate. It is a great joy to take this title home
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- Obviously there is the question of enormous willpower but some injuries are extremely specific. A torn meniscus for example can function pretty well during cycling whilst making it close to impossible to go up or down stairs or walk normally.Mistermaumau24-11-2024
- First of all, I hope now all is ok with your baby!. Yeah, about to not accept foreign phone number is a big problem also for me. I have economic interests in 2 countries, I think that all can be ok with my Italian number... but NO! The world is globalized but not for bureaucracies.
maria2024202424-11-2024 - First of all, calm, this is a site to share point of views, doubts, intuitions about cycling. Let's think about it: if someone tells you that he is very tired but is going to run unimportant races immediately, ignoring a world championship much further away in time that would give him the opportunity to rest, there is something very contradictory. Maybe it is fair, but as a simple spectator I (and many others) do not understand it, it does not make sense.maria2024202424-11-2024
- I think the other side has said plenty, given comments about her reputation like what Renz said above. Perhaps this is her chance to speak up against that reputation? I have no idea but her comments seem pretty human, even if each person has their own version of the story.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Give her a team built around her with no competing leaders, like Pogacar has at UAE or Vingegaard has at Visma (seeing how Roglic left), and I wonder how Vollering would do. She’s already so good, and a team dedicated to her could make her even better.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Those injuries, an ability to manage pain and push himself, probably a load of TUEs to help him get back from an awful moment, and competing that hard without the long exercise base that was the norm - no wonder he was exhausted. We’ve now had two consecutive seasons of the second place rider having an injury that interrupts training, and it shows to what level their bodies are tuned for the insane task of winning the Tour. I certainly hope both (and their teams!) are healthy next year. It would be a first, after 4 years.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Winners seem to be like this. Win or lose, it is always on to the next thing. They don’t celebrate the big win, they don’t worry about the painful loss. They move on. It’s an amazing skill. But to be able to ride (and win) while not being able to walk? That’s a level of pain management that boggles my mind. Of course they have it, given what they put their bodies through, but it’s just crazy.RidesHills24-11-2024
- Poor Demi. But she behaves the same way when riding for the national team. Bring me my tiny violin.Renz24-11-2024
- good pointsmij24-11-2024
- Yes, please tell us based on your superior expertise about why JVs training and race schedule is wrong 🧐Crashjames24-11-2024