Santiago Buitrago turns Valenciana on it's head with surprise win and GC lead over João Almeida - "Tomorrow will be a difficult day"
Cycling
A sensational performance in the final competitive stage of the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana propelled Santiago Buitrago to the race lead. The Colombian kept his powder dry throughout the day, but in the final uphill rise to the line he attacked to a solo win.
When it looked like Movistar Team could take another win thanks to an attack by Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda with 8 km to go, the Bahrain Victorious rider made an epic acceleration on the last ramp. With 500 meters to go, Buitrago went solo for his second victory of the Spanish race. João Almeida entered the climb badly positioned and did not respond, not only missing out on the bonus seconds but losing significant time on the road.
With this victory, the Colombian left Almeida 18 seconds behind in the overall. Considering that the last stage will be decided by a bunch sprint, it is logical to think that Santiago Buitrago has in his hand the biggest victory of his professional career.
However, the 25-year-old cyclist wants to be cautious. In his statements after the victory in stage 4, Buitrago warned that the last stage will be complicated: "Tomorrow will be a difficult day. It's only 100 kilometers, but it will be windy," the Colombian began.
"But I have a good team, and I'm confident that they will help me keep this jersey that we hope to take home tomorrow," added the new overall leader. Regarding his second stage win, Buitrago reveals that he didn't think he could compete for it again: "I didn't expect a second win in this race, even though we had the ambition to take those 2 seconds from João Almeida".
"In the last kilometers, we were in front with Pello [Bilbao] and Jack [Haig]. The battle was for position. When I saw myself in front in the last kilometer, it was the desire that propelled me to the finish. I'm happy about that. It's been a hard week for the team, and I'm happy to be able to reward them," Buitrago concluded.
🥇Another brilliant performance saw @SantiagoBS26 victorious on stage 4 @VueltaCV and taking the lead in GC!#RideAsOne #rideforGino #VCV2025 pic.twitter.com/ZMeu3i7zj5
— Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) February 8, 2025
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Front24223-03-2025