The ‘Escarabajos' are back, and La Vuelta 2017 is about to offer another proof of Colombian cycling's new vitality: Sunday, at Nîmes, the iconic team Postobon will tackle the Spanish event for the first time since 1992. A quarter century has passed since their last participation. The team even disappeared from the pelotons in the mid-90s. But a new project has opened a spot for Manzana Postobon to take part in the 72nd edition of La Vuelta along with three other Pro Continental teams invited by the organization: Aqua Blue Sport, Caja Rural and Cofidis.
The sparkling drinks company and its riders left a lasting impression when the first generation of Colombian climbers took the Old Continent by storm in the 1980s. Some of the most famous Colombian champions shone with Postobon - Lucho Herrera joined the team in 1991 and, that same year, won the King of the Mountains classification and snatched a second victory atop the Lagos de Covadonga, one of the most iconic places for the cyclists from his country (Oliverio Rincon and Nairo Quintana also won there while riding La Vuelta).
Noawadays, a new generation of riders crosses the Atlantic to discover La Vuelta. Seven young Colombians will race along with Portuguese rider Ricardo Vilela and Dutchman Jetse Bol, the only members of the team with already a Grand Tour participation. Sebastian Molano, who won two stages this Spring at the Volta ao Alentejo, will display his speed in the few stages dedicated to sprinters. The others are expected on the move when the road rises - very often.
This comeback is an opportunity for a fresh start. “Taking part in La Vuelta is a huge thing for us”, Oscar de Jesus Vargas explains. He rode with Postobon, claiming the third spot on the overall podium of La Vuelta in 1989, and will now participate as team director of Manzana Postobon. “After a long pause, the team was revived three years ago and we've taken huge steps forward”, he celebrates, highlighting the “huge responsibility” that comes with the wild card: “The organizers chose us and we've been important protagonists in every race we've participated in this year.”
The fresh start comes with a familiar rhetoric. Leading a team with many rookies, Oscar de Jesus Vargas makes a promise that echoes the offensive riding he and his fellow countrymen used to display: “I want to tell the fans who remembers the Escarabajos that this new project comes with the ambition to last over time and put on a show. We're going to fight everyday.”
For their first Grand Tour, the XXIst century Postobon eye a stage victory. “Our rivals are very strong and very experienced”, Oscar de Jesus Vargas foresees. “It won't be easy but we need to set goals to go after and not run like a headless chicken.”
That's how he lived his best moments as a rider, on those Spanish roads - “my KOM victory in 1989 and Lucho Herrera's overall victory two years earlier, when I finished 5th for my first participation at 23 years old are unforgettable memories” - before building a “special relationship” with the country itself. “Spain is my second home”, he claims. “I lived for ten years in Barcelona, I have the dual Colombian/Spanish citizenship…” Postobon might have gone missing for a long time but they are definitely not landing on Terra incognita.
