Wilson Peña

Biography

The only Colombian rider of the Continental Polartec-Kometa began with 11 years old at the MTB Club Caciques de Zipaquirá, directed by the ex-professional Fabio Rodríguez, who has made this club a nursery for great climbers, since he has also had Egan Bernal (Sky), a year older than him, and Brandon Rivera, currently at Monaco Team and two years older. The three form the outpost of the future cyclist of his city.

Like his club mates, he has built his career with the mountain bike, with which he has run until his last junior year, in 2016. That season he was in the Specialized Tugó team of Pablo Mazuera, who put him in touch in Italy with Paolo Alberati, that brought him to the GS Maltinti Team, from Tuscany (Italy), where he started his road career in 2017.

Last season he completed some 55 days of competition, although without notable results, that “most of the races in Tuscany do not end in a climb, they are for sprinters. I just ran a race like that, and finished second”, explains Wilson Peña. “Then Ivan Basso appeared and offered me the opportunity to come to Polartec-Kometa”.

As an MTB racer, Wilson Peña has been Pan American Champion in 2016, but because of a breakdown he can only be eighteenth in the World Championship. In 2015 he was second in the Pan American Championships, preceded by Egan Bernal, and finished seventh in the World Championship.

Wilson Peña is a pure climber who this year dreams of participating for the first time in the Girobio (Giro Baby) or Valle D’Aosta, the two toughest Italian stage races for under 23 riders. And more in the long term, his dream is to ride one day the Tour de France and Strade Bianche.