The cry of Colombian cyclist Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) at the end, on Sunday, of stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia disputed between Rivarolo Canavese and Cogne, of 177 kilometers, won by Giulio Ciccone still listening.
(Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen infamously assaulted, video)
(Santiago Buitrago: great race, second in stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia)
Buitrago got off the bike and when he was approached by his teammates he broke down crying, tears that hardly allowed him to speak, after feeling frustrated at being second in the day at one minute 31 seconds behind the winner.
“Ciccone was luckier today. I thought he could win, but he was better and you have to accept it ”, said the 22-year-old cyclist from Bahrain.
“I gave it my all. Thank you ”, he added and the Bogota rider continued to cry, which is the best classified by Colombia in the general, in box 17 to 16 minutes 20 seconds.
Gustavo’s ‘Guilt’
Buitrago is the figure of the country’s cycling, he has been in charge of, at least, showing himself, getting into the breakaway and trying to win, as he had done last Thursday when he was fifth at the finish in Genoa and he did it yesterday.
Santiago measures 1.74 meters, weighs 59 kilos. Gustavo is his father and Alba Sánchez is his mother. Giselle and José are his brothers. She used to be a cyclist, but two years after starting her ‘love ran out’ and she got off the bike and started studying.
Leonardo Gómez was the first person who helped him. He was the one who started taking little Santiago to the races, helped him get a good bike and bought him spare parts.
His quality was quickly perceived, he was one of the members of the Esteban Chaves Foundation team, Later he went to the youth category, Sub-23, signed with the AV Villas team under the command of Óscar de J. Vargas and from there he shot to Italy, where he reached an agreement with Cinelli.
He has a victory in races of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and he achieved it this year, when he won a stage of the Saudi Tour, a test in which he was the leader.
Santiago Buitrago runs his second major, after finishing in box 53 in the 2020 Vuelta a España.
He arrived in Bahrain thanks to Paolo Alberati and Andrea Bianco. The results that he presented in the calendar with the Cinelli team in 2019 helped him to reach the World Tour. In the middle of that year they informed him that this squad was interested and the contract was signed before the end of the year.
I am disappointed not to have won the stage
“It was another day in the breakaway and it was very difficult to be in it. I’m disappointed that I didn’t win the stage, but it’s also an important second place for me. Let’s see if there are other opportunities in the last week”, said Buitrago.
His time in Italy was key, he was trained there. “I was nine months. It helped me to mature. It was a tough issue because I had never been separated from my family, but that helped me grow as a person, as an athlete,” he told EL TIEMPO.
Buitrago says that every weekend she had to run and that is why she picked up a good level. “Well, I also fell, I had hard knocks, injuries, but that serves to train the person,” told the admirer of Alberto Contador and Rigoberto Urán.
The Giro has this Monday a rest day and will resume on Tuesday with the fraction between Saló and Aprica, of 202 km, with three mountain passes, one of them the Mortirolo.
(Giro d’Italia 2022: classifications, after stage 15)
(Santiago Buitrago breaks down in tears as he crossed the finish line in the Giro, video)
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