The incredible climbing star who could follow Nibali after Kruijswijk’s crash—but later hit his own limits

Esteban Chaves has brought his active career to a close. At 35 years old, the Colombian was once the “wonder-kid” of the Grand Tours, yet outside one dazzling year in 2016 he remained somewhat under the radar. Over the past four seasons with EF Education–EasyPost the flame slowly dimmed — even though it lasted longer than perhaps anyone expected.

Even in his final year as a pro there was a faint glimmer of enthusiasm among the crowd when Chaves’s name was announced. The small “climbing goat” was, first and foremost, a pure rider of the mountains — yet over the years he became equally admired for his ever-present smile and pleasant character. Perhaps he was a little too nice for a sport which has grown ever tougher.

If you were fighting tooth and nail for position in the peloton, you’d do well not to count on Chaves: he preferred burying his teeth in a real mountain stage, or a stiff uphill finish. Then the legs would turn and with his 50-odd kilos he didn’t need many watts to ascend at a very high pace. It was this way he also broke through — a genuine climber, the likes of which we rarely see in 2025.

Chaves emerged via the ProContinental circuit with Team Colombia and in 2014 signed a contract with Orica GreenEDGE. It turned out to be an enduring match — not least because of mutual respect, aligned ambitions and hard results. In his first WorldTour season Chaves immediately won a stage in the Tour of California and the Tour de Suisse.

After debuting at the Vuelta a España in 2014 he broke through in 2015 in that year’s third Grand Tour: two stage wins and a 5th place overall. Using the super-compensation from that Spain race he also won the then-end-of-year Abu Dhabi Tour.

Then in 2016 came the next big step. Chaves finished 2nd at the Giro d’Italia — the edition in which Steven Kruijswijk had long looked best, but the Dutchman cracked under pressure from Vincenzo Nibali in a descent: Nibali and Chaves went left around the corner; Kruijswijk ploughed into a wall of snow.

Following his first Grand Tour podium Chaves stormed ahead in 2016 with a third place in the Vuelta that year and wins in the Giro della Emilia and the Il Lombardia. A future Grand Tour winner seemed born — yet it never quite arrived. In a career that devolved into mainly stage-racing he occasionally gave a glimpse of his superstar potential, but often he did not.

Troubles struck in 2017: a crash in the Giro fractured his shoulder blade. In 2018 he was struck by mono (infectious mononucleosis), meaning after the Giro he didn’t ride the rest of the year. He returned strongly in 2019 with a stage win in the Giro, but then COVID struck the landscape of the sport in 2020.

When 2021 and 2022 brought things back to “normal”, the cards in pro cycling were suddenly entirely reshuffled. Young talent took control, driven by exponential improvements in materials, nutrition, an obsessive focus on watts-per-kilo and being ever-more all-round. Going uphill was faster year after year — and like many others, Chaves simply couldn’t make that next step.

Although Chaves saw the absolute world-top slip away, we still witnessed him make attempts in recent years. He began 2023 excellently by winning the Colombian national road title — but that turned out to be his final victory in his palmarès. After sixteen seasons of racing he finishes with 17 wins, including five Grand Tour stages, one Monument in Il Lombardia and two Grand Tour podiums.

“Esteban always competed with his trademark smile on his face,” wrote EF Education–EasyPost in a statement. “As he fought for grand tour victories and won stages on the hardest days in those races, he never forgot the humble values and work ethic that he had learned as a boy in Colombia.”

Chaves became a pro at all following a life-threatening crash in 2013 — that in itself was a small miracle. That he got as much out of his career as he did warrants a big compliment. “This is the right decision. I am proud of the career I have had and happy that I now close this chapter.” The Vuelta a España proved to be his last race — Chaves abandoned after twelve days following a crash.

Bram van der Ploeg ( X: @BvdPloegg | email : [email protected])