Santiago Buitrago: "It’s not the last one for sure"

Santiago Buitrago is a 22-year old Colombian rider who's just started his third season with Bahrain - Victorious. Although he's frequently in the shadow of the several leaders, today he's got his chance for glory and grabbed it with both hands.

Read also

Saudi Tour: Santiago Buitrago's pro debut win in race's sole summit finish

"When it was 1 km to go, I saw that I had good legs. We were only three guys fighting at the final. It was very tricky, and I didn’t think that I would have a lot of opportunities to win in the sprint, so I decided to try earlier." Buitrago justified, proving that bravery brought success.

"I wanted to show my gratitude to the whole team for the job done, all the riders and staff. This is the first victory in my career and the first one in the season for the team. This is incredible. Thanks to the team for trusting me. It’s not the last one for sure.”

DS Franco Pellizotti also showed some surprise and was content with the team's first triumph of the season: “I’m super happy for the first victory of the season, and also very happy that young Santiago Buitrago won. When I saw Bagiolli coming back to Santiago, at first I was scared as I know Bagioli is fast, but Santiago was very strong in the finish, and I’m so happy for him and the whole team. Also, I’m really happy how the whole team worked really well for Santiago today.”

There is on paper only one more stage where the Colombian will have to work hard to defend his lead and that will be on friday's stage. There, a 2.9Km climb at 12% average gradient will make for the queen stage, but the race leader is showing signs that he's capable of defending it.