If the Vuelta a Espana organizers were looking to see how Colombia would react to Colombia-Coldeportes’ invitation for the Spanish Grand Tour, a few hours were enough for the enthusiasm of a whole nation to come out. In little time, “Team Colombia” and “Vuelta” climbed the trending topics list in Colombia, pushed by the excitement of the cycling fans who already started the countdown to August 22nd.

Among many messages, the one of Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos stood out as he showed his usual support for the Team backed by Coldeportes, the Colombian Ministry of Sports directed by Andres Botero. “Excelente noticia para el deporte colombiano: Team Colombia-Coldeportes invitado a la Vuelta a Espana” (trans. Excellent news for Colombian sports: Team Colombia-Coldeportes invited to the Vuelta a Espana) was the tweet posted by Santos, immediately retweeted by a number of followers. “The enthusiasm of our followers, and notably of a special one like President Santos, fills us with pride and responsibility,” General Manager Claudio Corti stated, “it will be up to us to make the best of the opportunity Unipublic gave to us. We will give it all.”