It's raining in Bogota today, but it's 25 degrees. Buitrago is in town to spend a few days with his family, returning from Rigo's turn, the cycling tour organized by Uran, which also saw Wout Van Aert take part. He will soon return to La Ceja, in the Antioquia region, where he lives and trains. He says that when he goes out, he doesn't need an escort, but a friend of his always follows him on his motorbike, to keep his clothes and supplies. The winner of the Three Peaks of Lavaredo He will spend the winter in Colombia and return to Europe for the January training camp.The voice comes through clearly, the mood appears excellent.
“I had never seen so many people together,” he says. “It was a huge event. There were almost six thousand people on bicycles, which was beautiful.All fans of cycling, of Rigo and of the champions who were there. Every time I go back to Colombia, I realize how popular this sport is.People remember your name, they recognize you by your team jersey. If you stop for a coffee, they come over and take your picture. It's nice because when I was little I did it too. I went to Rigo or if I happened to meet Nairo. And now I think it's wonderful that they're asking me. Doesn't that mean I'm getting old?
2023 to frame
He bursts out laughing. A chat about the Tour Colombia 2.1 which returns next year and if the Bahrain Victorious he won't be there, he would like to do it with the national team. And then the conversation turns to the season of this 24-year-old boy, who in 2023 finished third in the Saudi Tour and then in the Ruta del Sol. Third also in Liège and then first in the Tre Cime at the Giro d'Italia, after the 2022 victory in LavaroneThe team is holding on to him, with a contract until 2026. And meanwhile he grows, smiles, and dreams big.
"This season," he says, "has been more than I expected. I wanted to do a lot of racing. I was aiming to get into the general classification at the Giro, it didn't go as I expected, but I won a stage and got a good classificationI did the Vuelta a España and even got on the podium in a few stages, and that was fantastic for me. But perhaps the podium I didn't expect was the one in Liège. I basically arrived in Belgium on Saturday morning from Tour of the AlpsI was still tired, it wasn't easy, that's why I didn't expect it to go like this. Yet in the end I really liked Liège.It's one of the classics I used to watch on TV when I was a child and I think that one day I could even fight to win it, given that I have already reached the podium».
Lavarone better than Lavaredo
Climber's numbers: At 74 meters tall and weighing 59 kilos, Buitrago is one of those athletes from whom you expect to fly over the great mountains. And the Colombian took flight on May 25th between Longarone and the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, remaining uncovered for 126 of the 183 kilometers of the stage. Similarly, the year before he had been on the run for 158 kilometers towards Lavarone and he raised his arms to the sky for his first victory at the Giro d'Italia.
«They are two different stories – he says reflecting – because Last year's victory came at the right time. Two days before in Cogne I finished second behind Ciccone And for me it was a hard blow. So winning on Tuesday, breaking away with Van der Poel and Ciccone, is a victory I'll always remember. The Tre Cime di Lavaredo are very famous for Europeans, but I am Colombian, for me they have no particular meaning.. It was an important victory, because my Giro wasn't going too well, so winning that stage was important. But in my heart last year's comes first».
Colombian cycling
In Colombian cycling, which has lost its big names along the way, due to age limits and various events, Buitrago is perhaps the most promising and above all concreteHe knows it, perhaps he likes to hear it, but he's keeping his feet on the ground. In 2023, he also finished the Vuelta in tenth place, after leaving Spain after just 10 stages in 2022.
“I’m happy with how my career is going,” he says. “Every year I get stronger. Every year I stay longer and for more stages with the best and I really like thisAt first I tried to follow the group and I would get detached, now I am capable of staying with the top 10 in the standings and I can fight to win the stageThere's a big difference. Meanwhile, Colombian cycling is going through a dark period. We are not that many in the WorldTour, compared to two years agoIt's bad for our fans, because in the past years we won the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta. We won practically everything, while Now the Slovenians, the Danes, the Germans have arrived, people who almost weren't there ten years ago.In short, it's a period in which others are doing better and we have to work to recover."
The Tour Project
And so now the time has come to raise the bar And Bahrain Victorious might even choose to accommodate him. The plans are being drawn up right now and will be finalized during the December training camp in Altea. But since Buitrago will not be playing, contacts with him are already at a more advanced stage.
«A few days ago – he explains – the team called me to ask me what kind of races I wanted to do in 2024. So I didn't beat around the bush and told them that I would like to go to the Tour. I'll be 25 years old, I've done the Giro and the Vuelta and In France, we will finally be able to fight for the white jersey again, as Pogacar has finally become a year older.I think the time has come. At last year's Giro I was second in the young riders' classification, behind “Juanpe” LopezThis year I finished sixth and then I was fourth in the Vuelta. I want to see how the Tour is raced."
The bet with Fondriest
The last word is for talk about a joke made last winter by Maurizio Fondriest, his agentIt all started with a photo of him posted on Instagram, in which he was portrayed on top of theAlto de Letras, a climb near Manizales, which rises nearly 3.700 meters over the monstrous distance of 81 kilometers. One of those South American climbs that require a whole day and that they are done rarely and often almost only in hushed tones.
«In fact it was really a gamble – he chuckles – because One day I told Maurizio that here in Colombia there is this very long climbIt's not all constant, there are some stretches where it flattens out, there's even a small descent, but basically the road always goes uphill. And he replied that he would like to do it and he would come at the first positive result I had.Maybe another stage at the Giro, we would have decided later. And so When I made the podium in Liège, he called me and said: “I think I'll have to go to Colombia to do that climb”And after the Tre Cime stage, he made the decision and will come down in December, he's getting organized. It's not a climb I do often, it's far from Bogota and AntioquiaI have so many ways to train. I'll be back in Europe in January, but maybe… I'll try to send you a photo of Maurizio on Alto de Letras...».
