Andrey Amador (San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica; 38 years), 15 years as a professional cyclist en route, 11 of them in the structure of Movistar, is the new king of the Skoda Titan Desert of Morocco when the test meets two decades. We talk about a success that rewards patience, courage and the pundonor of a cyclist who a year ago He was born again after seeing himself under a truck that ran over him in Barcelona as he trained.
That accident cost him the definitive withdrawal of professional cycling on the route and left him some sequel in the body despite the miraculous outcome, and now remembers in a graphic and detailed way wearing the jersey From leader of the Titan Desert in the goal of the test, located in Maadid, in a small oasis in the middle of the Sahara desert east of Morocco.
“I took a right curve and a truck came out. I skidded and ran over me. I was very lucky, as if I was born againbecause I got down the truck and then a wheel passed over my foot. I save something worse than the wheel passed through the part where the pedalier axis was, and I also protected my shoe, which was shattered, “recalls the Costa Rican cyclist about the accident that marked a before and after 10 of greater than 2024.
That relative fortune produced multiple fractures in the foot, so many that the bones could not be operated or fixedjust wait for the bones to be welded naturally. They gave him a year to be able to recover minimally, but when he has not completed that period he already feels winner on top of the bicycle. “They told me that I was going to have many sequelae And that had almost a year to, in theory, re -ride normally, and right now I win the Desert, “he explains with a smile from ear to ear.
Although doctors came to fear that they could lose their limb, the athlete’s resilience caused three months to initiate his active rehabilitation process.
The death scare in Barcelona was a Third and final notice to decide to leave the bicycle. Months before the clavicle and radius had fractured, and then several ribs. “A devil” gave him a third notice and no longer waited for the room. In 2024 he retired after two seasons competing for him EF Educationhis latest world Tour team. Although he would have liked to hang the bicycle in another way, the non -renewal of his contract ended up throwing him towards the final decision.
A 2025 plagued of successes on the BTT
Amador arrived in Ibiza at Holy Week loaded with his bicycle after two days of travel, but full of illusion, since on the island he lived his passion for the BTTalso winning the individual classification. Then he won in Los Monegros and now closes his trilogy in Morocco, when he has not even turned a year of the serious accident that ended up withdrawing him.
“I told myself that I would not get on a plane again for cycling. That was one of the things that I got more tired of: having to leave and get away from the family; But now Then you realize that Cycling It is your passion, And in the end you sign up for these things, “he says.
Amador, luxury signing for the KH-7 of the Titan, is the youngest of the three children of a rare couple: her mother, Raisa Bikkazakovahe is Russian and his father, Rodolfo Amador, He is Costa Rican of Spanish origin. Andrey’s paternal grandmother was Galician, but at age 15 her family emigrated to Costa Rica, because Spain lived the civil war (1936-1939).
Andrey Amador, dressed in the Rose Maglia of the Tour of Italy in 2016
EFE
In 2008 he arrived in Spain and an offer from the Navarro amateur team Exhaustof the deceased Manolo Azconahe changed his life forever.
“What I liked was the mountain bicycle, and I was also better than road cycling. Not having done BTT was like a frustrated dream. I started to make route to train mountain competitionsthen I was presented with the opportunity to come to Spain, “says the one who would later be a stage winner in the Italian turn in 2012 and sweater Rosa during a day in 2016.
In his professional years, the Costa Rican house was the Movistarthe first two years called Caisse d’Epargne, already led by Eusebio Unzué. Andrey Amador’s dream, now, is to return to cycling everything that this sport has given him, and for that, what better than forming a team and promoting cycling in his country, in Costa Rica.
“There is a very large wave with this sport, more and more cycling is breathed,”says. He tico He tells that there are young people who have the mentality of running in Europe, something that is not easy at all. “It’s not just going and having a quota in professionals,” he warns.
The Movistar excicist looks as a racing promoter and “The cheapest coach in the world”, Since he trains two or three children, without charging anything, all for simple passion. Intends to create and strengthen the career that bears the name of Federico Ramíreza Costa Rican excorter of humble origin, a farmer who did not have the opportunity to travel abroad to run.
“I am a person that I can live with the fair, with my family, I have my daughters and now what I want is to return to cycling what has given me “, He says, while dreaming “having a velodrome” in Costa Rica so that the young people in their country can compete regardless of the effect of the powerful rains.
