The Flying Colombians
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 13 September 2017
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Colombia is a country of passionate cyclists. The first bike races took place in Bogota in 1894 and by 1898 it was one of the first countries to have two purpose built velodromes. In the 1950s the great Vuelta a Colombia, a tour of Colombia, was born - 35 cyclists covered an extraordinary 779 miles in 10 stages. All over the country people listened to the commentary on radios and it began to link up Colombians in a common cause.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello from the BBC World Service and welcome to the latest edition of the |
| 0:05.0 | documentary podcast. Every week we bring you a range of stories from our |
| 0:09.8 | presenters and reporters across the world. |
| 0:13.0 | If you have the time, please rate the documentary on your podcast app and leave us a comment. |
| 0:18.1 | Let us know what you think. |
| 0:19.3 | The world is the principal, the most important cycling event in Colombia. |
| 0:27.0 | We have 182 riders here. |
| 0:30.0 | For the Portia, the Guelta, Colombia, all and pass, 2 million years. here. Columbia is a country of cyclists. |
| 0:43.0 | All across the mountains you can see coloured jackets and helmets snaking their way up and down the dizzying heights. |
| 0:50.0 | I'm Matt Rendell and I've been following Colombian cycling for 20 years. |
| 0:54.0 | Today for the BBC World Service I'm on the route of one of the most extraordinary bike races in the world, |
| 0:59.6 | the Vuelta Colombia. |
| 1:01.1 | The Vuelta to Colombia. The United in the West Colombia is the same way as well as I mentioned as the United |
| 1:05.4 | but as I think it's easier in the world to Colombia. |
| 1:07.6 | Ooh and part of the city. |
| 1:11.2 | Here in the village of Lasehah, the teams are being presented to an adoring crowd of all ages, including this school group. |
| 1:18.0 | We have 1,800 students and around 500 students they have bicycles around. |
| 1:31.0 | This is the first weight transportation here. |
| 1:34.0 | The bicycle is a work tool here, but once a year work stops to see the Vuelter pass. |
| 1:42.0 | It's not just a sporting event, but something woven into |
| 1:45.2 | Colombia's political history. When it was first broadcast, the whole of Colombia tuned in, |
| 1:52.0 | cyclist David Salas. |
... |
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