Talented Maltese cyclist Aidan Buttigieg makes his debut for Team Polti Kometa in Italy

Since the announcement a few weeks ago of the opportunity Aidan Buttigieg received as a stagiaire with Team Polti Kometa, the Maltese cyclist has been getting ready his professional debut with great care and ambition. A dream that has come true at the Matteotti Trophy.

‘The previous experience has been wonderful. There are many new things that I have to learn, but everyone is being very friendly and welcoming in the team, both the teammates and the staff’, explained Buttigieg before the competition. ‘It’s been days of training, of preparation, but now it’s time to perform the best possible way, I’m really looking forward to contributing to this team and its objectives’. Undoubtedly, motivation was at its peak ahead of Pescara.

Buttigieg’s addition to the team means much more than just the arrival of a promising stagiaire. The boost that Visit Malta brings to the Polti Kometa team of the Contador Foundation, signed and announced in 2022 but recently reinforced for the next three years.

‘Wearing the jersey of the best Maltese cyclist is a mixture of honour and responsibility. To wear the national champion’s jersey in professional cycling, in a team that has a huge connection with Malta. It is this collaboration that has allowed me to have the opportunity to make my debut in professional cycling, and I will wear the flag of my country with infinite pride, which also means so much to Team Polti Kometa’.

With all the ingredients to enjoy that debut, on the starting line of the Matteotti Trophy, the Maltese Buttigieg received a special affection from the public and his team-mates. It was a wonderful day in which he tried to ride well positioned in the first laps of the circuit, he endured the overtaking of the best riders, but as the laps went by, he ended up suffering from fatigue and couldn’t finish the race.

‘I really enjoyed my first race experience. I would have liked to finish the race, it was a goal, but with the enormous level that there was I couldn’t really recover as I was accumulating efforts’, he explained just before the race. ‘I’m happy with my performance, I gave everything I had, I think I have a lot to learn and a lot I can do to improve from now on. I’m looking forward to the next race that the team calls me and all my efforts are directed towards that goal’, added the cyclist.

The competition continues, and so do the opportunities. ‘Now I will be in Turin for two weeks with the Colombian riders of the team, Germán Gómez and Jhonatan Restrepo, training and preparing the next objectives’. Specifically, Buttigieg will be at the start of the Coppa Agostoni on Sunday 6 October, his next race.