Gracias, Rigo | Rigoberto Urán’s retirement interview | | Explore series | Presented by Wahoo

Today, Rigoberto Urán officially announced the 2024 season is his last. For the past nine years, Rigo has been our leader and inspiration. The captain’s chair at the head of our team bus was his.

Rigo’s immense achievements on the bike, which include an Olympic medal, GC podiums at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, plus stage wins in all three grand tours, remain unforgettable souvenirs of his time as a racer. During his 19-year professional career, Rigo opened roads for South American cyclists and made millions of fans, as he rode away from the hardships of his youth in Urrao, Colombia to the heights of international superstardom.

Now, it’s time for Rigo’s next act.

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To make this decision. It’s a very difficult decision. But the truth is I am a bit scared. You see, cycling has given me everything in life. Also, I am aware that everything in life has a place, and there are things that end like this.

I only have gratitude for the team, for all the people who always… There are many people, I mean, there are many people that I had for all these 20 years, many coaches, many teammates who were always there to help me. Ok, Rigo. The moment has come.

Yes. Here it is. That’s it. You’re retiring. Here it is. Finally. How do you feel? Well, in this moment calm. But the truth is, I’m a bit scared. Because, It’s been many years, I’ve had many… You see, cycling has given me everything in life, right?

I have my life, it’s been almost 23 years practically, that my goal was to get up, eat breakfast, and ride my bike. We had our race calendar, received new bikes every year, new clothes… be part of a team that took you to the major races around the world…also

To be known for what you do, and now everything is going to end, right? So it’s something that makes you think and obviously it takes a long time to make that decision. For the fears of “what am I going to do with my life after.” “what can I do after?”

and so, we fortunately have created businesses, we have a lot of businesses here with different brands and everything, but talking with Michelle, she told me I need a lot of support from my family to make this decision. It’s a difficult decision. It’s practically that I make the decision and someone dies.

Yes because it dies, that person dies. Now, because you are never going to have a professional race again. Also, I’m aware that everything in life has a cycle, and that things end. And why now? And why now? There are several things. The first is I think my family.

You lose many special moments… with the kids. When one is an athlete of whatever thing one does, you think it’s like a sin… like I’m making a mess. For example, I have a meal with friends. “No, I have to go because tomorrow I have to train.” Are you eating?

“No, I can’t eat so much because I am a little overweight.” When I go on vacation in December, I have to bring my bike. And I like it, because I have gone out training in these recent years, and going on vacation with my family and we look for places where there are friends…

…that can, say, take me out training in the morning. But one is already arriving. The age, is another. Also the topic of performance in the race Let’s say that it’s already difficult and this generation is very strong A very young generation that have changed cycling and made it more interesting again.

So, let’s say that it’s more difficult. Sometimes it’s very frustrating when you prepare really well you train well, you sacrifice and you arrive at the race and you go in the gruppetto and you say, “Oh, what am I doing wrong?” You have to learn to accept those things

And there are moments when you have to make difficult decisions. It’s a very hard decision. I am here this year I am going to get off the bike. And I already start each day thinking about it and you say, “well and what am I going to do afterwards?”

And you said, “it’s a person who disappears.” Are you ready for this fight? No one is ready for this fight. No one is. Now one. No human being is ready to lose it. I think it’s something you have to confront. But it’s a topic that we’ve been talking about.

It’s not a decision I’ve made alone. Rigo has a big team behind him. There’s my team EF I’ve been with the team almost nine years; my GO RIGO GO! team, my family Obviously this decision has to be approached by remembering that everyone is working toward the same goal to see when

Is the right moment and I think the right moment has arrived. I’m still enjoying the races. I’m still enjoying the races. I know there’s a big sacrifice. Now that we are talking about results I am not the cyclist that has won the most but I was somewhat accustomed to being among the top

Well, what can one say: well, that’s enough The sport that we practice, I can say, is not so good for health because we push our bodies to the limit every day, every day. Every day you train and you train. So, it’s like a decision.

I think it’s already necessary to dedicate ourselves to another facet. Obviously, they are going to keep seeing a Rigo, for sure in other activities, dedicated to other sports. On the other hand, me being a cyclist means I don’t do other sports

Because I was afraid of injuring myself, I was afraid of a lot of things. And it’s been so many years too. We are talking about… what I think is my 19th season this year and that’s a lot of years.

Think that I started when I was a child and I already think it’s enough. But it’s something we’ve been preparing for. It’s something that even later on, we don’t know if we are going to need a psychologist also to help the family because sometimes when I have a rest, with Michelle,

There is a lot energy then she tells me, “Go train, don’t bother me so much.” Without races and without pressure, I don’t know what to do. What happens is that I can channel my energy on the bike and afterwards I am very hyperactive, very tiring, and so imagine me without training.

She tells me to go train so she also has to be prepared for that, the whole team, everyone. Of course, that’s why you’re going to practice more sports. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I say it’s sports that keep you happy. So it’s something to share. It’s experiences with young people.

It’s many times in Europe with the team. with the team, accompanying them at Tour de France. I don’t know. but as a cyclist, I believe the time has come to say: we have reached the end. And do you have a retirement date? A retirement date. I don’t have one.

I talked about it with Vaughters and we are going to see. The idea is a race… It’s going to be this year, god willing, at the Tour de France and obviously there will be some races after, so the idea

Is to retire with the team at a race that we all decide together. Let’s go back a bit to the beginning, ok? To your story. Because your story Very good. Very nice. But let’s talk about your childhood, of that boy from Urrao, look back a few years from where we are.

Well that boy from Urrao was a boy who had many difficulties/problems. We grew up in a town with a lot of violence, my father died, and that changed the situation greatly. The only option was to go out and ride a bike. Why? I didn’t like cycling.

I tell you, the only way I fell in love with cycling was the money. But it was money to survive, to pay debts. And thanks to that talent I had at that time, I could solve a lot of problems and then I fell in love with the bike.

But when I started on the bike, I just started because It had barely been a month and a half without my dad and we were poor with a lot of problems and the money came because I earned it on the bike.

And so because they said I was talented, so the people of my village helped me, they gave me everything. So I say, it was easy to earn money, because for me, the bicycle was a game at that time. And still, it still is. Because I still enjoy racing.

I was racing despite the results because I am very realistic. Because there is superior talent right now, and also I wasn’t in great health. And that takes a lot out of you. When you go to the Tour de France and you are sick and you still have to race. It’s very hard.

I say about why I lasted for so many years on the bike is because I have a bad memory. I forgot all that I suffered the year before at the Tour de France, when from stage eight, nine onwards, I was already on antibiotics. I was really sick.

I have a really bad memory. If I didn’t have a bad memory, I would have retired before. That is a really nice phrase that would work for an article I wrote: “Rigoberto Urán: ‘you must have a bad memory to be a cyclist.’” I love it. For life, for everything, everything.

Yes, yes, because you keep thinking well “Let’s move on”. Let’s go to Urrao, back to your childhood. In reality it was a really short childhood because all the responsibility fell on you. Of course the sorrow of the great loss that was the death of your father

The responsibility to take care of your mother and your sister who was also quite young I have always said that at times life gives you a certain opportunity. It takes away some important/valuable things, but it gives you others. The loss of my dad was very difficult, very difficult.

It took a long time for me to recover It was a very complicated few years obviously. I was very focused. And also there were many times with doubts. When I was in Colombia, I had no idea that I would get to Europe with cycling.

I didn’t know that it could last so long, but nobody knows that. Obviously, you set it as your goal, you dream about it. I wrote it and I focused on it, but I had no idea. But I was very aware that it was what I wanted.

And I dedicated myself to that, no matter what happened. And all that I lived all that is happening now, for example, with Rigo, with the telenovela that has been an inspiration for many people, I didn’t know that my story was so beautiful. There are things that, let’s see, to meet

A five-year-old boy who says, “Rigo, you inspire me to be a better person.” For me that has all the weight. Who was going to know that that boy, in Urrao, with that story, that hard-working boy thrown forward, was an inspiration to so many people.

Really, if one is able to help someone to change a habit, to improve their life, I think he has done a great job. Many people, man kids are just starting in their life, in their sport. It’s something because it’s a very real story. A story of what happens to many people.

Many people are prepared, but there’s only one who is going to win. And no one is prepared to lose. Being able to connect so many people with a story that has… A lot of times I see it and I say when I was a young boy,

I was very complicated because I don’t know what happened to me after. Because I see myself on the screen and I say it’s incredible everything that this son of a b**** has done. For example, one day… Tell us how one day was when you were fourteen. At 14 years old?

I got up at the club, I left to train at 6:15 a.m. in Urrao I got up at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. ate breakfast, I was at training until 8:00 a.m. At that time, in the junior category, you didn’t train much. Training was really short. It’s not like today.

A young rider has to train like a professional now. At that time it was a different cycling. We’re talking about the year 2002. It was a different cycling. If you did 40 kilometers, you were doing well. So that was until 8:00 a.m. I got home, I changed,

I left to do a round in the morning for Chance [a Colombian lottery], then at about noon I went to study until seven in the evening After 7:00 p.m., I went home, I changed and I did my last spin. That is, it was a completely full day.

And I did it everyday, even on Sundays. With what they paid me, I focused on buying everything we need for the entire week at the market. That was my life. That is my life. I didn’t even have friends or time to play.

I didn’t have time to do chores around the house. Nothing like that. And to clarify, Chance was the lottery? Yes it was the lottery, it was the lottery from here and we did it with a pen. Today, there’s an electronic machine. Did you ever feel sorry for yourself

That you had such a hard childhood with so many responsibilities? No, no, no, no, no, no. I never felt sorry for myself. Obviously when one is in the grieving process, because when one loses a loved one, you always say, “Why is this happening to me? This is S****”

“How am I going to get out of this?” No matter what attitude you have, you enter a massive void. “How am I going to recover from this?” Someone you know has died, you’re not going to get them back. And he was very important to me.

And so you have resentment but obviously that is something you have to let go and obviously many times you need help. I needed help to get out of that. I don’t know. At that time I didn’t complain much. I had a lot of problems, a house with a mortgage, a house they

Were going to kick us out of. We didn’t have any income. It was just the people who helped us by buying the Chance, what they gave us at that time. I have been blessed that someone has always helped me. Always, always, always someone helps me.

At that time in the streets of Urrao, they helped me with money to do the shopping every 15 days. The electricity people helped me pay the electricity. Let’s say that I have always been very fortunate in this way because I have always had people willing to help me.

But I never felt like – I don’t know if it was because I was just a boy of 14 years old and I didn’t fully understand the problems I had. I just focused. I was lucky in cycling school so…

I had that time in the morning to get all the pain out and put it into sports with a huge hunger to beat all the other guys. And I think that is what helped me. When my father was there, let’s say I was a very restless child.

They kicked me out of a lot of schools for my bad behavior, for my attitude, for everything. When my father passed away, the next day I was a different person. The change was incredible. I became, as we say here, a regular guy, who had a future

Because when my dad was here, they said no, you are of no use. Well, many… many things. So I think things that happen, you have to learn to accept them. It is very difficult, very difficult. Sometimes you talk and you think you’re the only one with a problem.

But once you’re in a group, you see there are so many people wth the same problem, or even worse. You realize in these moments that we are all just trying to move. And when you had the first opportunity to do so, you went to Medellin? Well, um…

You see, all of this was based more or less on our economic situation. So when I started to ride, there was this team from the government of Antioquia, which was Aguardiente Antioqueño. And they told me they loved me there.

I said, “Ok, but I have my mom, my sister, I have a mortgage,” I had all of that and I needed them to help me. They said, “Ok, we are going to help you.” Being a minor, they signed a contract for me. I earned more than the professionals on the team

So I said, son of a b****, that’s a lot of money. They helped me. The people from Indeportes Antioquia and the government went to my house and saw that my house was falling down and they told me that an athlete couldn’t live here. They organized everything.

They invested, that is they made me a new house. So, I have said, any Colombian athlete that you ask, “What is your dream?” 99 percent of the people will say, “To buy a new house for my mom.” Of all the athletes in Colombia,

Most of us come from poor families, from humble families. And the only objective of those athletes is to try and help their mom. And that was mine too. When we got the completely new house, imagine how motivating that was. They started to pay more.

At that time, I earned more than the professionals on the team. I said it was wonderful. So it was only about three years there on the team – Orgullo Paisa and in 2005 I got a call from Europe, asking if I wanted to go to Europe and race as a professional.

But I was thinking of doing – we’re talking 20 years ago –  of doing the first category under 23, race the Vuelta a la Juventud, after that the Vuelta a Colombia, an RCN Classic. It felt early to go to Europe. But it wasn’t like that.

When I was young, Giuseppe Acquadro called me – I still work with him – he said, “Do you want to go to Europe?” I didn’t understand him and I said, “How much will they pay me?” He said, “25,000€” and I said, “I’m ready, I’ll go.”

Of course, here the euro is worth double. And I was only thinking about that, I’m going to Europe. And I had a career that… for me, was really nice, and I had the good fortune to be part of another family in Italy. That was also something special that helped me succeed.

I think that it’s a really, really good career, that I feel very proud of how much, or how little, I achieved, but the most important thing was that I could enjoy it. And that gives me a lot of happiness. So to enjoy the Tour de France, even

Though it’s very hard, but the last few years, just to be there with the team, having a good work environment, I think is something really awesome. And how was your arrival in Europe? Because now the Colombian cyclist that go to Europe, they have more support, there is a bigger presence.

Yes, very. For example, now all the teams also come here to Colombia, they have the whole team here. We are 40 riders that are in Europe. The same coaches ask you about those who win races here. And it wasn’t like that before. It was very complicated.

The Tour de France was raced by Sanitago Botero, Victor Hugo Peña, and that’s it. It was two cyclists. The Giro d’Italia, Felipe Ardila, was another, but there weren’t many cyclists. It was very difficult but it was what I wanted.

To get there and to know there was more of a future there, more things. Equally, when I got there, the first years I had a lot of difficulties with the language, the food. Here in Colombia, we are used to the mom doing everything.

The moms here, the moms from before, the one that raised me, they are moms who don’t let their kids grow up because they make their beds, they wash their clothes, they make their meals, they do everything. And in Europe, if you didn’t do it, no one would, because labor is very expensive.

Here in Colombia, it is a little cheaper. So adapting was a difficult issue. The first few years were very complicated. I just wanted to go ride and in the winter go back to Colombia as soon as possible. Because here there are more friends and you really miss your country.

I don’t know if it was the parties. They were really hard, the first years, but I knew we had to be there. It was what I wanted. So every year, I was on some very good teams, I had a lot of accidents and also let’s say that they stopped my growth a lot.

So when I got to Europe, I started to win already in 2007, in the Tour de Suisse, I won a stage at 20 years old and they said, “And this [guy], who is he?” From Colombia and only 20 years old. Remember that at that time those who won the Tour were 30, 32

Years old and to see a 20 year old kid winning races or at Euskal Bizikleta winning the time trial it was something incredible. Or in the following year getting a podium at Lombardia, finishing second at Catalunya. That gives you a lot of motivation and obviously

You never know how far you will go, but you try anyway. Every day you have a goal and there are things that are not happening, but there are other things that are. And that first victory in Europe, what did it tell you?

Because I understand that it’s a big motivation, to say that I have made such a big effort. I am here, and I have my first win. Victory was when I was in the Tour de Suisse in 2005 or 2006.

That gave me so much confidence that I had the accident because, of course, I was already used to racing in Colombia in the youth category, but look out, in Europe they sent me to Belgium to do races – I don’t know why the hell they sent me there.

It was Driedaagse van De Panne so then of course I was there in 2005 to see Robbie McEwen, Tom Boonen, the world champion, that I had seen on TV. To be racing with them there and in Belgium, a Colombian… climber, obviously it was very frustrating because I could not compete

And the next year I went to Unibet.com and let’s say that when I won that incredible race, I beat them. It was all the confidence of someone more daring and everything. I had a very serious accident in the Deutschland Tour where I broke both my elbows and that took me a long

Time to recover from. It gave me too much confidence. And that bad crash, you were not a newcomer but you had only been in Europe a short amount of time. Two years nearly, a year and a half… How did you confront this? I understand you had a family helping you there.

That’s where the love was born because the family practically traveled to Germany. From that family when I first arrived in Italy that first year. the team rented an apartment and the owner of the apartment was a friend of the team.

He kind of liked cycling so he followed me in the races, they went to some races and when I had the accident, I was alone and I told them what to do and they said, “Let’s go with him.” Also it was August and they were on vacation,

And they wasted their vacation at the clinic with me, all of them. So it was almost three months they had to bathe me, to feed me because my hands were paralyzed. I couldn’t move them because of the plates I had. It was something… I practically became a son for them.

I say that if they hadn’t been there at that time, I believe it would have been a different situation. But I repeat, things happen for a reason. It was a really important support for me. I believe that it is one of the most important pillars that you can compare

With a podium, with a medal. You can have that… family that is willing to support you, to help you …in everything that you need. How beautiful. It’s spectacular. How beautiful. Another thing about your career is that you have ridden together with big legends.

One of the first ones you rode with was Alejandro Valverde as part of one of the longest running teams, the longest running team, that exists. The Spanish school which is very traditional. What did you learn during those years? Well for me when I came to race with Valverde

And the team, at the time that I joined, there were a lot of good riders like Ivan Gutiérrez, Oscar Pereiro, Luis León Sánchez, Valverde, Purito, who were riders and obviously they received me well. And for me they were gods/idols. They still are. and I learned a lot of things from them when

Because when they had the opportunity to share with a person, all they want to do is teach you because you appreciate it so much and let’s say that I have a very good relationship. It’s been 20 years and all of them with Pasamontes, with all of them

I have a really strong friendship because they taught me so many good things. They had too much talent and with me, they told me that I could be good because even at that age I was winning.

I don’t know if I won races but I was always on a few podiums in the team and it was something really nice. I have the good fortune to race a lot, not for many teams, but the good fortune to be on big team, like you say, with incredible riders.

I shared with a lot of champions and what was most important of that was that with almost all of them today, we have a friendship. We respect each other greatly, a lot of admiration, even the directors we were with. For my way of being,

Because also I remember at that time I said to everyone, “In Colombia, there is a wonderful country.” Invite them. And in the many years of being able to bring all the champions here to Colombia, to get to know the country, sometimes I am also a part of that process

Because I once said in Italy, “For me, life is not only cycling.” And they told me no, cycling is everything. I told them for me, no, cycling is part of my life but it is not my entire happiness because we have seen many athletes when they don’t win become frustrated.

This has happened even to me. And I said, “No, no, wait… One’s happiness cannot depend only on if you are going to win races, because that is a false happiness.” Also, I think that it helped me a lot to shape my life in a different way, and also in my sporting life.

What I want to say is that even though it seems like… no, because in Rigo you see a cyclist who is relaxed, calm. Obviously that is what you see but to be ready for a race, there is preparation, there are demands, you have to be motivated. You have to be very motivated

To be in the top 10 of whatever race. They know that to be within the first ten, you have to train like a champion. Exactly. And in 2009, it’s your debut in the beloved and feared Tour de France, how do you remember that first experience in the French grand tour?

It was really something that I wasn’t expecting because I had already made my calendar and the team told me, Eusebio told me… ”I am going to take you to the Tour de France so you can learn.” I said to him, “Bring me,” of course, but I had already

Done too many races at the start. And they brought me and I went to the Tour where yes, you learn a lot, you share with a lot of people. I was in a break and everything but it was something really special, because as a child, and especially here in Colombia…

Colombia is a country that really follows the three-week races: the Tour, the Giro, and the Vuelta and they took me to the Tour de France and being there with incredible riders, that was something very, very nice. In terms of results, I can only

Tell you that I got in some breakaways and that’s it, nothing more. Excellent. And look, from a traditional team you jumped to the one that laid the foundations of modern cycling, It raised the bar for everything. On the British team you left your comfort zone a little bit.

Because Spain and Colombia are more similar. Yes, It was very easy, it was very easy. And also the language, the way we train, the way we fed ourselves, was totally different. I got to Team Sky, a very odd team because when I got there in 2010, they seemed crazy. Indeed.

Are you crazy? Where are you going? And he finished there with Zandio on the team. The first days were very complicated because we were not, for example: when we finished a stage, what we did was to shower grab ourselves a beer and eat a sandwich

On the Spanish team, on Caisse d’Epargne at the time. That’s what Valverde did. He was winning races so it’s what you did. I got to a team where the stage finishes and they put on a trainer for 20 minutes. Son of a b****, how are you going to put

Me on a trainer for 20 minutes if I am exhausted? Or do the camps in December and do some training as if it were the Tour de France in January. Or train on December 24 in Europe. And I said no, no, no. It’s because of how a Colombian works, with his head.

I need to be in Colombia on these important dates. Let’s say it was an incredible change for me. I thank the team and myself because I made a very difficult decision. Because I also had the opportunity to stay and to continue with the team, and remain in that comfort

Because it’s like I was with my family, living in Pamplona. I spent three years there. I had my friends there and I changed my life completely. The way I trained, the way I prepared myself, fed myself. I think it was a great time of learning. That’s why I say to everyone that…

Everyone is given opportunities, everyone is given opportunities. The problem is being able to take them. And for me to have been on that team for me was an enormous change. A team that gave me the opportunity to compete in race, a team where I learned so much.

And then let’s say that I became a little more international and more… more… more connected with other cultures. I think that was something very cool. You said that the year 2012 was like a key point in your career. There you started your idyll with the Giro d’Italia

With your seventh place, and the young rider jersey, In this Giro, did you say “wow, I posses what it takes.” Of course. Did you discover something? Of course. Because in that Giro… In that Giro… In that Giro, I raced a lot. I had a crisis one day when

When it was so cold. I froze and I lost, I don’t know, two or three minutes. But I tell you now I have a really bad memory. I look at photos and I remember a photo. Hesjedal, Scarponi, Ivan Basso, Purito and I and I think Pozzovivo

I was with them and I was trying to remember which part we arrived together at, and I always arrived with them. I don’t know. I froze. I was practically frozen and with two kilometers to go, I was empty. They took two and half minutes out of me.

And it was a Giro to gain time in. I was flying, I tell you. I could be with the best. I could compete in the Giro d’Italia. And that’s where we were the following year with Wiggins but Wiggins suffered a crash and the team had lost a lot of time

And the team said to me, “Go and do your races/racing,” and I came in second at the Giro d’Italia A long time after Nibali because there were two days we had to stop and wait. That Giro ended really well so I wanted

To be on a team and try being a leader because it changes a lot. Of course. The responsibility is very big. For me in the last few years with the team, I always wanted to be at the front and it didn’t get us on the podium.

I was really good the first 15 days, in the top two or three, but it was very frustrating for me and also for the team who had all the guys and even often… blocking the riders in the break but I didn’t do much because I liked that everyone was on the attack

And we were among the first riders in the Giro because each one had the opportunity and that’s something I always managed with the team. But there, in those moments, I could attack there. I was getting ahead. I defended myself well in the time trial and I said let’s see the teams

Where we can go and we went to Belgium. And before Belgium, what was the value to you of that silver medal at the Olympics? At first, not much, because the riders themselves, or the world of cycling, is so focused on certain races. so it was like a medal…

I tell you in the sport of cycling not so much, but for a country, it has a lot of value. For me, this medal changed so much. After this medal, they started to recognize me here in Colombia and in many parts of South America:

Rigoberto Urán, silver medalist in the Olympic Games. It was very big. But for us cyclists and for the teams, now it’s different, but at that time if they told you, “I don’t have a stage at the Tour de France,” or for example in Belgium, a classic like Liège or Paris-Roubaix it’s too big.

If you are going to compare them next to a medal But for us as Colombians, we don’t have so many medals. Colombia only has a medal in cycling and that is mine. And so that is very, very big. In that Giro of 2013, where you finished second and won a stage,

That’s where your plans start to change? Where you say, “I want to win a Giro.” I don’t know if you want more stress, more pressure, more responsibility. Did that change? Of course it changed. The most important thing changes, that is when

You receive money, big money contracts you already know there is pressure. You know you have the responsibility of the team and that you can’t screw it up. So I said, “Right now I can compete at the Giro”, that is, I go with a team that is focused from the beginning,

Because look how I was that year in 2013 when I came here to work and finally I finished second. And so I say I want to go further, let’s try the possibility of going with another team and let’s do it. And of course, in 2014 you finished second again.

But this time, the Colombian flag was on the podium because Nairo Quintana won. I imagine that that was a very important message for Colombia. Really big. Really, I say that cycling here in Colombia started to evolve, the people started to do more cycling after the medal in 2012.

That’s when it all starts. In 2013 again, my podium, then came 2014 with Nairo and then with Chaves coming. All the riders who, until four years ago, we always had a Colombian on the podium at the three grand tours or even winning it.

Then Colombia once again turns to cycling and it becomes this grand mission that we have today of the sport in the cranks. And a lot of riders came from that follow-up. A lot of riders from that time. And in 2016, you arrived at your home.

Your house and your house of retirement too, right? Yes. The EF structure, what attracted you to the project? Yes. Let’s say… that you always achieve cycling as a team. I was on QuickStep with Patrick. And I had one good year and the other yeas was so-so.

I felt that I wanted to continue racing. I got the opportunity to talk with Jonathan Vaughters and he said that he wanted to have me in his team, an American team. At the beginning I thought that the team was a little strange, but I then directly noticed that it was amazing,

A totally different atmosphere from what I was used to. I mean it in the sense that it was a very calm team, with very important riders but the atmosphere that the team had, was very cool. Once I arrived, we started to transform it,

And we were a very, very fun team, with great results, with great talents and very strong riders. I got myself adapted very well to the team and the reception they gave me was very, very, very good. I didn’t know or think that I would last for so many years,

because I had always been in a team for around three years. And finally, well, it became like a family. They received me very well. I adapted very well to the team. I became a reference for the team, for my teammates, for the coaches, for everyone.

And we ended up still here for now, well imagine, already, 8 or 9 years? What impact do you think you had on the team? What mark do you leave? Well, the mark of work is given. I think the most important thing is the mark of work,

Of respect for all the people who are part of a team, because each person who is on the team is giving everything, and sometimes, there are failures. You don’t get to insult, or get angry with everyone because many times the ones who fail are us, right?

The dialogue, the tranquility also of solving problems I mean the tranquility of solving problems by talking, looking. I’m telling you respecting all teammates equally, regardless of whether it’s a mechanic, masseur, director. It doesn’t matter. I think that’s the most important thing, is to always have that respect

For the one who pays you. If your going to compete and you come for example to Colombia do you know what happens? In Colombia, there are many riders who got fat, arrived out of shape and that is something that has never happened to me.

I’ve always arrived well, always well because I had a commitment to the team and a commitment to myself. If they are giving me this opportunity I want to do it well. That’s what I told the team and my teammates: take advantage of this moment, try to give

To the team, because the team makes a great effort, the directors make a great effort, the sponsors. If you’re going to be here, well let’s try to do it well then. It’s very different when you prepare yourself… and train… and go to a race and it doesn’t go well.

You’re going to be calm, something happened, but already the level of arriving with three kilos overweight, of going to many parties… To come in these condition is lacking respect for the team and your teammates. Rigo, it’s in the nature of the sport,

EF has gone through moments of looking for new sponsors. On some occasions, it has taken a little longer, creating a difficult situation for the whole team, staff and riders. In 2017, you had a great year that we will talk about now. And this happens, but you decide to stay with the team.

You make a commitment and take responsibility to stay. Why? In 2017, the team had an incredible year. We won several races. We finished second in the Tour de France close to the winner Chris Froome. We were less than a minute away, we contested several stages, we won a stage.

And then there is a problem with the sponsor. And the team even sent a letter stating that all riders were free of contract and so, many of us left. I told them: there is nothing sure here, you can’t deceive a rider to stay. The team was very clear with that,

I told them that I was going to stay. It’s easier to find a sponsor now that we finished second in the Tour, in a project that has just started. And I stayed because it was a team where I felt very good, I felt very good.

The relationships I made in those years were very good and there was a very important thing that was special for me. The team allowed me to do other things that I could not have done on other teams. For me the most important thing was to create my company.

And other teams wouldn’t allow it. It was impossible. Let’s say that the team allowed me to do that, so staying at EF was like a form of gratitude towards the team, because today, for me or for us, my brand is too important, it’s part of my future,

Of what we have generated here, of what we continue generating billing, generating employment. So it was a very important aspect for me when I was looking for a team. There was like this commitment. And the team allowed me to, Vaughters told me to go with that, and well,

It was like a form of gratitude for the whole team that they allowed me to do things that other riders can’t. Impossible. They allowed me. It’s a form of gratitude and I’m going to continue here with you and surely some sponsor will come and finally well in 2017

Education First arrives and look, it’s been all those years. Even during the pandemic we had difficulties, it didn’t matter. We had to cut salaries, ok, we understand, so, let’s all pull towards the same direction. Let’s say we became one, I even got involved towards

The team, as if it were part of the staff, as if the team was mine, because I wanted the team to continue, because there were many talents. There was a big sponsor that could last many years, which is also difficult, to find a sponsor that works in education,

That goes very hand in hand with sports. What do we want for our children? That they do sports, that they study. Right? We don’t want them to be brute athletes. So this came thanks to the fact that we joined forces, both the team and I.

A very important sponsor arrived, Education First, well that in all these wonderful years that the team has had, a team that people love, a team that cheers up the broadcasts, a team that doesn’t win the most races but it’s… Now we have a really good rider in Carapaz,

Let’s say, we’ve always been a very active team, we’ve missed a little luck to win some races, But it’s a very competitive team, very very nice. A team that has a lot of this like happiness to the peloton, the atmosphere of the riders,

All the EF riders are a bit crazy. With a smile and a very committed team that works every day to be better. And the 2017 Tour arrives, especially the stage victory, the ninth of the Tour de France, that I think everyone remembers because so much happened in the final kilometers.

The crashes, you know… How do you remember it? You say you have a bad memory. But I understand, this you must remember. Things happen so fast in races that you don’t realize. But of course, what happened that day in the race , with the crashes of Richie Porte and Dan Martin,

One of the bikes that crashed, hit my bike and broke my derailleur. I did the whole descent with the broken gear with a lot of fear. And besides that, I was already moving up to third place. But with the broken bike, the gear didn’t work, it was basically stuck on a…

In those times we used 53×11. It was a very narrow road and the car was very far away. Charly was very far away. So Charly told me, “Rigo, we can’t change bikes”. Try to get there with it, the people from the Tour tried to help

Me a little bit too with the bike, but it didn’t work, they asked me: “Do you want a spare bike?” “No.” Take it ten kilometers and you won’t arrive so tired. No, I go with this. Already with 500 meters, no problem I was third

Because I don’t know who had stayed behind. I was third. So, I start sprinting with 500 meters and it seems that Barguil won in a photo finish, because three minutes had passed since the finish and they were eternal but I was already happy with it. First, I saved myself from the crash.

It was a fall that normally would have hit me. I don’t know how I missed it. The bike broke my bike. That was the first thing. I did a whole descent without changing. It’s very hard, very complicated. You don’t know what’s going to happen to you. You think in every turn,

“the chain is going to fall in the wheel.” it can blow everything up, it puts you in a f****** fall. Every turn. “It didn’t happen on this one, it didn’t happen on this one.” And of course we were going full gas in the race.

Chris was going, and also Bardet was ahead because he had attacked. There was nothing to lose. For me, it was a win win situation. Then, I win that wonderful stage, the queen stage. They told me that I didn’t win, but, I didn’t care.

I was happy and three minutes later they tell me, Rigo you won, and I didn’t believe them and I didn’t believe them because they bother me a lot and I as I tease people so much, I told them to go up to the podium for me,

Because I didn’t believe them, and I had already arrived at the bus. I see the commissaries arrive. “No, you won,” “I won?” “How did I win?” So when one wins, everyone wants to have the winning photo. My photo is like this, that’s how it is. Sprinting. There’s no photo winning.

It was very special, and it was very very very very nice. I didn’t live that adrenaline you get when you win a stage, the endorphins you get from winning, that happiness, All that makes this moment, that I think when you cross the finish line and you know that you have won

is something that… few things can be better in that moment, those three minutes of greatness of however you want to call it. I didn’t have them because… I was already going to the bus. You won, go back to the podium. So it was a little bit different. Wonderful.

What does life look like from the podium on the Champs Elysées? What was happening in your head? A lot. At that moment, nothing. But when you get to the hotel with your family, you say son of a b**** I just stood on the podium of the Tour de France, the race

That I watched as a child, because remember that for us in Colombia the Tour de France, it’s the most important race and to be there on the podium with a team that also had a great time that year. And also being there on a big podium with riders

Like Chris Froome, with Bardet, very important riders. To be with them there on the podium is something… that I think you don’t value as much in the moment. You start to appreciate/value it as the years go by when you are in the gruppetto,

I think that you give it more importance as the years pass by. How did you experience this Tour? I lived that Tour very well. It was one of those Tours when nothing happens to you, you don’t crash, you don’t get sick,

You sleep all night long – it all goes well. I don’t have a lot of mystery when it comes to racing. That’s how it was going in 2021. In 2021, the challenge with the pandemic, was that I was going well, sleeping well, eating well,

I was third until the second week, and in 2021 the same, stage 17. I don’t know what happened to me, I exploded, and everything became a problem, I didn’t even have an appetite anymore, but the first seventeen stages were good. Because in cycling there aren’t many mysteries,

Because if you’re well, if you’re healthy, your legs are there, but if there’s something small, some illness, some fall, some mechanical issue, you can turn it around, but it’s more complex. But there are moments when if you’re well, you’re at the front if not… There is already a way to train,

There is a way to eat very importantly that makes a big difference. But we are talking that when I was in that time, I had not reached such a great evolution that we have at those moments in 2022 And I believe that at those moments in 2022, 2023, after the pandemic, cycling changed.

It took one more step, one more step of evolution, speed, way of racing, attacks 80 kilometers from the finish. Cycling changed a lot after the pandemic. There aren’t many surprises in cycling. You prepare, you have great coaches, nutrition, everything, you have super-fast bikes.

In the end, when you’re in the race, you are good or you are bad. Obviously, I know how to suffer a lot on the bike but there are moments when I suffer, suffer, suffer, and I don’t go forward, so what do you have to do?

You have to pull over and wait for the group, and try again in two days and then go back to taking the fast lap. But can you say that you enjoyed this Tour? Is enjoyment and the Tour two concepts that go together? That Tour in 2017, I can tell you I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it because it was the condition I had the fact that in a race you can sleep well, that is very important. Waking up hungry the next day and thinking everything is fine. Let’s say I’ve enjoyed most races because, well, I’m in the race, and I know I’m doing well, and

Then I start to suffer, and I suffer a lot, I suffer, but there are moments when it doesn’t happen to me, and I’m already heading towards the finish line trying to give it my all. But I don’t dwell on the race because this happened to me, it already happened,

I turn the page and go on the next day. I think that works for me, that way of thinking, that that way of racing has worked for me. And that Tour was very important in terms of popularity as well. So, did you notice a change?

Also because we came in after a very average 2015, 2016 , and after being on the podium of a grand tour in the 2014 Giro. I had already had two very, very bad years. Years when I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

I don’t know if I’m sick, but no, I go to races and return to the Tour de France and be on the podium again. Being part of the Tour de France podium is something wonderful. And not many people have done that either. And not many people achieve that. Not many people.

And nowadays even less. Nowadays, it’s always the same one. Of course, there are eras, there was the era of Contador, Froome’s era. Now there’s Pogacar’s era, Vingegaard’s era. These are riders you’re going to have for 5 or 6 years, and you won’t be able to bring them down.

And speaking a little about these years, perhaps they have been a bit emptier. How have you handled your own and other people’s expectations? You are faced with what reality right? You say you gave it your 100%, but then you don’t see the fruits of your labor in the race. It’s normal.

As a businessman, I understand that when a team pays you, they want results, and many times there were discussions with the team because we didn’t know what was happening. But it was normal, you understand? What’s happening? Do we need to change our training methods? We have good equipment; we have everything.

Simply, let’s just try again, right? But yes, obviously there are moments of tension, of a lot of pressure because I’m paying you to be on the podium, to be in the top 10. I often told them, I finished 6th, 7th in the Tour

But I didn’t get on the podium, that’s why they’re paying me. I haven’t done s***. That’s the truth. Someone once told me I was very ungrateful because “I would like to be among the top 10 in the Tour, it’s the goal of my life.” A friend from another team told me,

“you say to the press that you had a s*** Tour because you finished 8th, but that would be the dream of my life.” And I said, “I understand and respect what you’re telling me, but the team is paying for me to be among the top three, on the podium…”

So finishing 8th or 9th is not acceptable. It’s something complex. Something that sounds like, “why did this person say that because that would be a lack of humility.” Each person has a different way, each one has their contracts, what each team generates so it’s simply…

The Tour de France is not the same for everyone. We talked at the beginning about that serious fall you had and you have had three, lets say, big ones right? Three or two. I don’t know. But in 2018, in the Tour, you crashed.

I don’t know if you consider that a big one, but You had to recover, and you arrived at the Veulta a España, and you got a top ten. I don’t know if after an injury, there are certain results that are worth more. because of the path that you took.

Or the obstacle you went over before to get here. Ah. In 2018 I crashed in the Tour. Yes. But you came back and had a good Vuelta. I fell in the Tour, but nothing happened to me because it was just some bruises.

Yes, I had a very large hematoma on my leg, and I withdrew, yes. That I remember. And then I went to the Vuelta a España? Ah yes? I didn’t know. You don’t have the memory, but… No, the Vuelta is a race… I don’t know I could never…

I tried for several years, and for me it was a goal to podium in the Vuelta, and I never, never could. I mean, I arrived at the Vuelta very well. In fact, one of the ones where I had the big big accident in 2019,

I was doing well because I had done the Tour well, but in The Vuelta, I was already in great shape, and I got into that crash. There, I was really going to retire. Because of that I was not going to ride a bike anymore until 2020.

Until then they always made me do it. And in that Vuelta a España, I don’t remember the details very well, but let’s say that I always went to the Vuelta. And in the years I went, I went with the hope of

Trying to be on the podium, but never, never, never achieved it. The stage I won gave me a lot of happiness because with that stage, I achieved a stage in each Grand Tour, so I have one in each. And it was really nice.

That one in La Vuelta a España was very, very, very beautiful. It was very special. But you see, I tried for the podium many times I went, many times, I made the top ten in the Vuelta two or three times. I don’t know. And the crash in 2019 was indeed very serious,

What do you remember about that day? Do you remember? About that day…. About that day, No, no, no. I remember when I was in the ambulance. The fall was very fast, very fast. It wasn’t… There was no danger. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Someone made a mistake upfront. I don’t know what they did.

They went off the road, and there were 7 or 8 of us there. What I remember is that in the ambulance, there were like 5 or 6 people. Very bad, and they were the last ones to lift me. I thought I had a broken rib and everything.

I was in a lot of pain already, a lot, a lot of pain. The only thing that helped me was the doctor giving me morphine because it helped me there. And when we arrived at the hospital, I was totally wrecked on the left side.

It was very complicated because even when we arrived at the hospital, they told me it was just the collarbone… the collarbone that was broken, and some ribs. So I thought of traveling again to Monaco to have the same doctor who operated on my collarbone operate on me.

And then it came out in Barcelona, that they could operate on me there. When I arrived in Barcelona, they told me, “you have a punctured lung, your scapula exploded into 9 pieces.” I walked to the clinic after they bathed me, because I had so

Much morphine in the hospital, due to the pain, I could move. When they took me to Barcelona, they could only operate on the collarbone, and the collarbone is something straightforward. More and more and more doctors started arriving, and I ended up in intensive care immediately. Things got worse.

They told me this patient is screwed. He has a punctured He has a punctured lung, seven ribs, the scapula exploded, the collarbone is turned into nothing. We have to wait 20 days for the lung to be able to operate. But I arrived at the clinic, walking quite normally.

When they started doing the x-rays, more and more doctores began to arrive. That time in the clinic was very, very, very difficult for the family. As I say, I suffered, but since you are in the clinic, you have a lot of medicine, you don’t suffer as much from the pain.

But the family that is there and suffering. We were in that clinic for 23 days, and they told me not to get back on the bike. And I said that they can’t say that here. I have to say that when I leave the clinic, or when we can make that difficult decision.

That was the moment when I said I wouldn’t ride a bike again. And it what moment did you say, “I’ll continue for another year?” The moment I returned home, I started therapy, and the had the desire to go out and ride a bike.

But also with the fear of falling again because I hadn’t fully healed yet. Everything was fine. So I said, let’s wait and see. Also, it was here in Colombia at the Tour Colombia, I was going to race a Tour Colombia, I was pulling the grupetto everyday. I raced that Tour Colombia 2020,

And then the pandemic arrived. I was off for five months because of the pandemic. Otherwise, I would have gone to Europe and gone to races that were too fast. I got five months and I had a lot of time to recover. Of course, I say, I already feel good,

I’m riding the roller every day, I’m going to do the Dauphiné and the Tour. Ah sorry, you were the Champion of the indoor trainer. Yes! Yes I was flying on the indoor trainer every day. But it helped you a lot, because you arrived very well.

You had a very good end of the season. Yes, yes! In the Tour, in the first two weeks, I was among the top four of the Tour. although later I broke down. And after everything you’ve been through. Of course! How, and I return to my previous question,

How did you live this after having gone though everything you went through over those months. I think it’s just not complaining too much, simply do not complaining, and do it. And think that there are people who are worse off than you. One can have it very very bad.

But there are people who are worse off than you. In terms of sports, in terms of economics, in terms of happiness, in terms of prosperity. Whatever you want, no matter what the topic is. If you’re feeling s***, you don’t have to do it.

Let’s move on, let’s not complain because there are people worse off. I think this helps me. What has been the motivation that has kept you going year after year? Because in the end, 18, 19 years of professional career is a lot. The motivation is… As a cyclist, no one bothers me.

When I’m here in November, I work too much. I don’t want to work that much. Year after year. When I am here, there is a lot of work, the family… So, for example, Michelle tells me, “you are an athlete, don’t do so many things.”

But when I’m not cycling, “do this, do that…” What are you going to do now? Now the sports holidays are over because today’s athletes suffer. It’s difficult, but I can tell you that an athlete lives well. I would recommend this life to a young person right away. The athlete’s life is beautiful.

And it motivated me. There were many things, for example, Trying to be on the podium in the Vuelta a España is one, returning to a Tour de France podium is another. The atmosphere that I had with the team, the race atmosphere… the number of people who followed me or still follow me.

That was also another extra. I love riding a bike. I enjoy what I do. So, there were many things that drove me to continue for another year. You say that you don’t regret anything. I understand that if I ask you, if you have left something on the table

If you would have done something differently? No…. Today, if you ask me that, and you say I had a chance to win Giro d’Italia and Olympics. I think there is a lot of space when you say that. I think that life puts you in the moments, or the experience,

Or the confidence, whatever you want to call it, or maybe you wouldn’t be ready So, if I had won a Giro d’Italia in 2013, 2014, maybe in that moment I wouldn’t be ready, and I would get carried away because here in Colombia,

We have a problem, and it is that we celebrate too much. Here in Colombia, it’s a problem we have. I don’t know if I would’ve gone to the race. or because we don’t have that culture that they have. That we are learning from Achieving goals,

Turning the page, and moving on to other goals. Because you know you it’s a very short time. I say, and I believe that of everything I did until now, I don’t regret anything that happened at a race. Everything that happened was, well it was what it was.

There is one thing that the veterans, the masters of cycling, they say that it is important to know how to find your place in the peloton as soon as possible. What would you say your place was? I had my place… Let’s say, I had several. I went through many.

I had a place for some years where I could compete in races, I had another place… another time… In the last few years, I was trying to get in breaks because I understood that the place with these guys nowadays was far away, complicated, I still tried.

So, It’s like adapting to a change in work, in strategy, changing a way of training, and simply being useful for the team. Being useful for the team, I believe is the most important thing, and from there, results come.

And would you also say that you have been involved or are still involved in the arrival or do you have that commitment with those who arrive from Colombia to Europe? Well, let’s say more than commitment, it’s not just commitment, it’s like a bridge.

It’s just a contact. “Look at that team that wants you, they want to help you, they want to see you.” I was there, I found this process very cool, they helped me a lot. It’s just like transmitting the message, it’s very simple. Sometimes giving happiness is so easy.

“We are looking for a rider.” “Oh well, look at this rider. Do you want him out?” Go ahead. It’s like… that little push that costs you nothing. There is something in psychology that talks about the inner child of each one of us.

How do we return to that, to that moment so pure or that essence. If I ask you about the child Rigo, what would that dreamer Rigo in a complicated situation, think of the Rigo we are seeing today? Who announces his retirement and has had a career like the one you have had.

What would he think? He would think he achieved everything. I say he achieved everything because he was able to get out of his sport: first, great results, a great image, be loved, which is very important, be loved by fans, be a reference, be an inspiration.

Well, I would say a life that anyone would want to lead. Being able to create a business, also apart from sports, having another future because one of the problems was always, what am I going to do when I retire? How am I going to keep living?

Because now you get used to a lifestyle, a lifestyle that can be expensive, and from one moment to another, you won’t continue receiving money that you were used to receiving for many years. Your source of income changes, and we retire very young; thirty-seven years old is nothing. You’re halfway through your life.

I don’t know how long it will last, but it’s something that you don’t say when you are very young. What are we going to do, what are we going to keep working on? So, I was able to create a world where I already have things

To entertain myself after leaving this cycling adventure. What are you going to miss? The races… it’s something I asked many riders, I asked many riders, I asked Nibali, I said how’s it going? And the only thing he misses is the stress of the races. The other I talked to Aru, Purito,

I also asked Alejandro, but of course, he hasn’t retired yet. So, I asked them, what happened? Some told me they were tired “I don’t want more of this.” For me, they were born again when they left the bike. But not for me. I enjoyed, I enjoy the bike.

Yes, I suffer a lot, but I still enjoy it. So, that’s why I’ve been asking many athletes what happened the day after leaving the bike? Talking to them, having conversations and everything. Because, of course, you have to be prepared for such an important decision. I think this year,

Well, I’m going to try to enjoy it, give my best in the races, and already know that it’s like the last one, like a thank you. We are going to miss you. And on my behalf and of course on behalf of thousands of others, thank you so much.

It’s been a luxury and pleasure to accompany you. Thank you, thank you very much. I only have gratitude for the team, for all the people who always…. There are many people, I mean, there are many people that I had for all these 20 years, many coaches,

Many teammates who were always there to help me. So it’s like a thank you also to all those people, people who, say, I haven’t seen in many years because they are part of another team, they are in other countries… All the brands, all the sponsors that were with us,

Let’s say they’re all a part of it. I’ve always said that to achieve all this, you’re going to need a team and we have a very large team that, throughout these twenty years, nineteen that I was in Europe, always contributed something, to my life

As an athlete, as a person, that all they did to me was learn, grow, evolve… And every day on how to be a better person, now what do I have to do? Start returning all these… say… all these favors, commitments… How do I do it? Sharing my teachings, helping teams…

In any other way. Very well. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, and remember that Rigo is not going anywhere. A hug. Thank you. Thank you. I mean, the only real thing to say to Rigo as he’s retiring is thank you. without where you go.

This organization wouldn’t have survived, wouldn’t have thrived. It wouldn’t have become the the friendly, fun winning organization that it is. and it wouldn’t have the personality. Rigo, you’ve been an incredible leader, a great friend, a mentor for not only myself, but for the young riders on this team. you’re an incredible businessman,

And your career is something that every rider should admire. you’ve been humble. When you win, and you’ve been proud when it hasn’t worked out. All the same, you’re always happy. So for me. Thank you. Where you go. And I’m sure we’ll be in touch. And, thanks. Thanks for giving us so much.

And thanks for giving cycling so much. Good luck man. Hola, amigo. No logra comer tu tía Aldrin Y volvió a fare un poco al ciclismo. Seguro. Seguro que tú. Sin duda. Fagan, que después de tanto estafar y con conductor, que fue lo que hay construido. ¿Eh? Creo que se divertían mucho

Cuando se metían. Nada de eso da buena divertimento. Tanto yogur para medio. Creo que te has petado por ciclismo. Pero para esto he. Para una fiesta. Ya. Talladega. It was really a pleasure to to be riding with you and to to visit,

Columbia, your home and, in the last few years, it’s been, yeah. Great pleasure for me to to meet you and, yeah. we everybody will miss you in the pro peleton, but, I think you will. You will stay somewhere around, and, it’s not your, it’s not, a real goodbye. Rigo Congratulations for your career.

It was a pleasure to race with you. And I hope to you and to your family the best. Because you deserve the best. Because you are one of the greatest person I’ve ever met in my life. And I wish you the best. God bless you.

And, I hope to see you even after cycling, because you are a special person for me. Musa Mucha Gracia. Regal Mata. Iran muchisimas. Gracias. Take care. Charlie. Parce para mí siempre ha sido como un ídolo y un ejemplo a seguir. Desde que empecé mi carrera deportiva. Y vi que estabas en Europa

Y esos últimos tres años haber estado en el mismo equipo ha sido bastante especial y he aprendido muchísimo de ti. Quiero felicitarte por la carrera que has tenido. Felicitarte por la persona que eres, por la familia que has construido. Y ahora está cerrando un capítulo en tu vida.

Pero estoy seguro que se van a abrir muchísimos más y va a ser muy emocionante. Conmigo cuentas para lo que necesites. Con mi familia, con mi mujer. Aquí vamos a estar siempre. Un abrazo y nada, aquí estamos siempre. ¿Amigo rico, Cómo estás? Nada. Te mando un fortísimo abrazo, tío. Y desearte lo mejor.

Deportivamente ha sido una estrella. Ha sido una máquina, la punta de lanza del ciclismo colombiano. Quizás te faltó mandar a que el Giro del 2014 dio, pero te lo levantaron, te lo levantaron, pero bien. Pero vamos, yo me quedo. Digo que que ha sido un grandísimo compañero.

Hemos coincidido en el mismo equipo, un gran amigo en el pelotón, un buen rival y un tío, sobre todo pata negra, tío. Nunca te he visto enfadado, siempre con una super sonrisa. Has tenido graves caídas. Has sabido salir de ellas, tío.

La que te pegaste en Suiza o la que te pegaste también en la. En la Vuelta a España. Mira, la justo estoy en el hospital aquel donde. Donde al final te trajeron y de que casi, casi te salvaron la vida, macho. Así que. Que nada. Entré a la habitación y me dejaste acojonado

Porque ya has unos de pánico y solo te preocupados de que no se pueda reciclar las habitaciones. Eres eres un tío muy grande en en Colombia se te quiere mucho, pero en España también se te quiere muchísimo. Así que nada, te quiero jefe. Rigo parcero,

Gracias por tantos años de ciclismo, por todo ese profesionalismo. Por demostrarle al mundo que los sueños se pueden cumplir. Sé que vas a dejar un legado inmenso entre todos tus compañeros en el pelotón. Que fortuna todos los que tuvieron la oportunidad de correr a tu lado. La alegría que estoy seguro les impregna.

Hasta eso nunca se va a olvidar un personaje como vos en ese pelotón. Nunca. Difícilmente se vuelva a tener. Gracias de verdad por hacer realidad todos tus sueños, por demostrarle a un país entero que con sacrificio y con esfuerzo se pueden cumplir muchas cosas. Y gracias por permitirme hacer parte de tu vida.

Y ya sabes. Pues parce, aquí lo que hay es boleo, así que lo esperamos en Gorri marica. Un abrazo bien grande y éxitos en lo que se sigue. Charito, que el has venido. Si atiendo tu caso se podría. Comer Stata la tua cañera que yo llamo de la. Charito. Mi favor.

Todo empieza y todo acaba. Qué rápido pasa el tiempo. Oye, enhorabuena porque has sabido compatibilizar muy bien tu trabajo con tus negocios. Y yo creo que has sido un ejemplo de que con trabajo y sacrificios todo se puede conseguir. Un abrazo y suerte. Te deseo lo mejor. Torigo felicitation.

La carrera qui I fatto pudi to traditional top tier two took a fatto subsea sei un gran diciamo persona per questo cello tutto rispetto. Berta continua to tell me of la vita dopo D’Amico. Hey Rigo, felicidades por tu jubilación.

Y nada, gracias por todo lo que has compartido conmigo y con todo el equipo. Un fuerte abrazo. Hola. Cómo estás, querido amigo, Espero que estés muy bien. Nada. Simplemente quería decirte que me siento muy orgulloso de haber compartido ciclismo contigo. Pero sobre todo me siento muy orgulloso de que sigamos siendo

Grandes amigos después de tantos años. Creo que te tienes que sentir muy satisfecho de todo lo que has conseguido a nivel deportivo, pero también, y esto es muy importante, de cómo te has comportado con compañeros como yo, que siempre has tenido detalles que jamás olvidaremos. Eso es lo que queda eternamente.

Así que gracias por el ciclismo que nos has dado, pero sobre todo gracias por lo buen compañero que ha sido. Te mando un abrazo fuerte desde España. Espero que lo sientas como si estuviera en Colombia. En rigor, espero que disfrute de esa nueva etapa de su vida.

Realmente lo apreciamos mucho y agradecerle también por lo que hizo por el ciclismo colombiano, porque nos abrió las puertas a nosotros. Así que un abrazo. There you go. Congrats on an amazing career. It was really amazing being a teammate of yours. I have so many great memories from the 2017

Tour de France and Giro d’Italia just to get off. it was a real amazing time. You are a very good friend. And, congrats on a great career. And, all the best for the future for you and your family. Here we go. what can I say? The peloton is not the same without

Rigoberto Uran in it. with his easy nature is chilled. Smile, mate with teammates a couple of years. So funny. The best guy in the group chat. The best guy on the bus. Just brought everybody down. Just easy, just easy. Life’s good. You make us realize that life’s good, mate.

Enjoy your time and has been an honor. Cycling’s been blessed to have you. Much love mate.