The seventh stage of the 2017 Tour de l'Avenir was taking place. The Colombian National Team had pinned its hopes on one of its riders, a young rider, only 18 years old, who was emerging in Europe and had every desire to make himself known, win a stage and fight for the general classification.
(Also read: Egan Bernal and Nairo Quintana: the keys to breaking it again in Europe | Analysis)
Abner Santiago Umba López, who was born on November 20, 2022 in Arcabuco, Boyacá, was making his first career with the National Team. He was in the leading group and when there were 50 kilometers left before the end of the fraction he had a serious problem.
Umba López was seen on the floor. He did not know what happened, but it is clear that he ended up against the police fences that blocked the passage of cars.
An impressive pain took over him. He couldn't even breathe. He tried to get up, get on the bike and pursue the group, but it was not possible. His left arm did not respond, and he was treated by race doctors.
They put him in the ambulance and took him to the Coulommiers Hospital. The doctors received them, sent him to the X-ray room and once the x-ray came out, the worst was confirmed: “Radius fracture.” It was all for him. He entered the operating room and left a few hours later, but his mood was not the best.
“I was well. It was one of my best seasons and I had everything to be a figure in the race, but the accident happened and I had to stop for a few days.”recalled the rider who debuts this year with the Astana team.
That fact knocked him down. She thought she had been everything to him in cycling. Several teams followed him closely, but that fracture prevented him from reaching the 'big leagues', the elite of cycling, sooner.
“It scared me, because I didn't know what could happen next. It was fine, the results were good, but the teams were scared. “I almost had to start from scratch,” he told EL TIEMPO.
It was not be for lowerly. He had been fourth in the Vuelta al Táchira, occupied the same place in the Tour Alsace and was third in the Tour de Savoie, but that fall hurt him.
Today, Umba remembers those sad days, but warns that everything was for a reason. Years have passed, he is now 21 and has a signed contract with Astana.
Nairo, the key
Juan Libardo Umba and María Susana López are his parents. Juliet, Ana María and Juan Alejandro are her siblings. His father makes a living as a truck driver, and his mother is in charge of the housework.
He attended primary school at the Castro Martínez Educational Institution and graduated from high school at the Alejandro Humboldt School. He was neither the best student, nor the worst.
He says that his childhood was normal, without setbacks. He had no problems, his family never had needs.
“I come from a simple, hard-working and humble family. I liked sports, we played basketball, I played soccer, volleyball and I even jumped rope,” Umba warned.
And I add: “I like to read, have fun. “I am restless about knowing what happened in life and that is why I read a lot and watch movies.”
Football was a springboard to get into cycling. He rode his bike to training and began to like the sport of cranks and pedals more than kicking a ball.
Juan Libardo was a cycling fan, as are most people from Boyacá. He rode a bicycle and his children watched the races on television when he had time left.
“He bought me the first bicycle. We rode since we were children. He did not understand that he was going to take cycling as a profession. Then I grew up, I liked it more every day and I got psyched to get ahead,” he said.
Santiago Umba, Colombian cyclist.
When he was 11 years old he went to a competition held at the fairs and festivals in Ventaquemada, Boyacá, and finished in fourth place. There he not only realized that cycling could be his thing, but he also became friends with his rivals, whom he defeated. He still maintains contact with Andrés Mancipe and Johan Costo, with whom he raced in the children's and youth categories, and goes out to train with them.
Around that time he met Nairo Quintana, his countryman, the idol of the natives of Boyacá, the cyclist who was breaking it in Europe. Juan Libardo and Luis Quintana, Nairo's father, were friends.
Several times, Umba lent him the motorcycle to accompany him to training, which the champion of the 2014 Giro d'Italia and the 2016 Vuelta a España did with another cyclist from the region, Cayetano Sarmiento.
“Contact with the Quintanas was lost, but I once met him training, I accompanied him on several occasions when he was preparing the Tour and he already knew me. I remember his advice, he always tried to help me and in those he spoke with his businessman, Giuseppe Acquadro, who he recommended me to,” said Umba.
The recommendation took effect. Acquadro saw his numbers and spoke with the Italian Gianni Savio, who knows the Colombian riders inside out, as he has had several in his squad, such as Egan Bernal.
Savio took advantage of his time in Colombia. He saw him run in the Vuelta del Porvenir, in Rionegro, and gave him the endorsement to count on him. He was there for three years; from 2021, when he fell in France, until 2022 and last year he was with the same coach in the merger of GW Shimano with Sidermec.
His second year in Europe was good, but he expected more. Umba competed in several events alongside important riders; of the World Tour teams, such as in the Giro dell'Appennino, Castilla y León, Giro della Toscana and he managed to be part of the lot in the Giro de Lombardia, his first major race, in which he finished 88th.
“That year I had the opportunity to race alongside Vincenzo Nibali, Thibaut Pinot, Bauke Mollema and I felt good. Sure, one gets nervous, but in the race he gets into the story and forgets about it. You don't give up, I am competitive with any runner,” he warns.
Big goals
A year later, Savio's team was over, but Umba had a contract with him for one more season. The idea of going with the GW Shimano was born, and Umba stood out. He was fourth in the Tour of Youth and 11th in the Giro dell'Appennino, in his best performances.
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“I am a complete runner. I climb well, I'm not the best climber, I have top speed, I'm explosive. I like them and do well in week-long races; For now, with maturity, I will look at the three-week ones,” he said.
Since before the middle of last year, talk began about his option to go to Astana, alongside his compatriot Harold Tejadaand at the end of the season the step was finalized, everything was confirmed.
“He is a boy who has raced in Italy. When the team asked about having a young man, we saw them and decided on him. We want him to gain experience, go little by little, he is a climber and I think he will give a lot,” Giuseppe Martinelli, one of Astana's technicians, told EL TIEMPO.
Santiago Umba has several objectives; First, keep learning. It is a team that gives opportunities to young people, but knows that it has to take advantage of the fact that the group does not have solid leaders, it only has Alexey Lutsenko for that, and stop counting.
He is close to racing the Giro d'Italia, his first big one, since he is part of the reserve group and will depend on the results in the first part of the year to win the place, but he is not eager, because he knows that he must have his feet firmly planted. the land and be calm, as Nairo once told him.
“He is my idol. He has been the runner that we have seen grow winning, he is from the region. He is one that I admire, I have followed Peter Sagan and Julian Alaphilippe, who has a lot of class. One dreams of winning a three-week competition, some classic, the Strade Bianche, and a World Cup. I hope he gets it,” said Umba.
The young man from Boyacá is looking forward to the start of his year dressed in the blue Astana shirt to demonstrate his class and fully convince his coaches and teammates.
He will be one of the guides of the British Mark Cavendish in Colombia, a man with experience and who is in his last year in professional cycling. Nothing more and nothing less the man who has equaled the record for the number of stages won in the Tour de France by achieving his 34th victory, just like the great Eddy Merckx.
Umba wants to make his way on the World Tour and says he is not going to disappoint Nairo Quintana who picked up the phone and found him a job in Europe.
LISANDRO RENGIFO
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@LisandroAbel
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