The 78th edition of the Vuelta a España ended with the absolute dominance of the Jumbo, which shared the podium with Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic. The best Colombian was Santiago Buitrago, who took tenth place overall. To also highlight what Juan Sebastián Molano did, who was responsible for giving the country the only victory in this version of the race by winning the 12th stage. In Madrid he tried but failed to achieve victory. Egan finished his second major after the accident.
The Vuelta a España said goodbye with the 21st stage, which covered a distance of 101.75 km in Madrid, with the first kilometers being a recognition of the Jumbo and its three runners who had already won the race a few days ago had decided in favor. However, tensions arose due to Primoz’s attack on Kuss in Angliru, exacerbating the dilemma of loyalty in cycling.
Buitrago, the best Colombian of the Vuelta a España
Santiago confirms that he is a three-week runner. He shared the Bahrain lead with Mikel Landa and his best stage was the 15th upon arrival in Lekunberri, where he finished third after being the protagonist of the attacks and staying in the final sprint.
From the 17th stage he returned to the top 10 after starting on the fourth day. It was calm and patience that Buitrago always displayed throughout the 21 stages, proving that he knows how to compete in this type of race. The guilt was to get a win, now they will try to finish the season in the best possible way.
Egan and the further 3,153 km to get back to his level
The INEOS rider completed his second major event after the accident; he had already ridden in the Tour de France, where he finished 36th. Now at the Vuelta he maintained his sociable role and although his team did not play a leading role, he always made it clear that he would ride for their leaders, as their interest was not in winning a stage but in seeing the work of theirs to make it easier for teammates.
In addition, he managed to finish in the top 10 in a stage for the first time since the accident, finishing 18th on the climb to La Cruz de Linares. Although they came eighth in the team time trial, they did so in the individual on a challenging day. That day he was singled out as a “fighter” by his troops. With a time of 2h 22’40” he took 55th place overall.
One person obeyed Rubio Movistar in silence
“It is a year in which I have completed the two big races in a row, the body reacts quite well,” said the Colombian from Movistar in the penultimate stage of the competition. His best day was on day 15, where he finished sixth, and on the penultimate day he finished in the top 10. He remained in the top 20 overall.
It was the 25-year-old rider’s tenth competition of 2023, the second major one after competing in the Giro d’Italia, where he finished 11th overall and 4th in the youth classification.
Molano gave Colombia its only victory at the 2023 Vuelta
Although he hoped to repeat what he did in 2022 when he won the final stage, the breakaway group led by Remco and ultimately won by Kaden Groves prevented the Colombian from showing up in Madrid. Nevertheless, he was one of those who gave the race courage in the sprint finishes.
The 12th stage, which covered a 150-kilometer route from Ólvega to Zaragoza, was the only one that resulted in a victory for Colombia. Molano from the United Arab Emirates won a sprint in which he overtook Australian Kaden Groves, who was his main rival in this edition of the race.
Camargo and Higuita, the ones with the least importance
Both runners fulfilled their social role in EF and Bora, two teams that, like the others, were overshadowed by the hegemony of Jumbo. The best thing for Diego Camargo was the team time trial, where he finished 3rd overall. He finished 84th.
Sergio Higuita finished 31st overall, third on our team ahead of Egan Bernal (53), Diego Camargo (83) and Juan Sebastián Molano (147).
