The Ukrainian Vitaliy Buts (Sakarya BB Pro Team) was one of the protagonists of the second stage of the Tour of Turkey, participating in breakaways that allowed him to appear on television. Those images are what make her family smile, refugee in Turkey after fleeing Ukraine, while her hometown is bombed by the Russian army.
“My form is not as good as last year due to the war in Ukraine. I came back home after the Tour of Antalya on February 10-13 and I couldn’t train for three weeks because of the start of the war. Fortunately, I managed to escape two weeks ago with my wife and two children.“, he explained to cyclingnews Vitaly Buts.
The 35-year-old cyclist from Mykolaiv recounted his arrival in Turkey “with nothing on”, receiving the support of his team at all times. “We arrived in Turkey with literally nothing, I had left my bike, my cycling clothes and everything in the Ukraine. My team here was very supportive. They provided me with what I needed to survive and train again with a new bike,” she noted.
Buts has been with the Turkish continental team Sakarya BB ProTeam for two years. He competed in the WorldTour with Lampre for four seasons, from 2009 to 2012. He was also a two-time national road race champion (2014 and 2017).
“Hopefully this war will end soon. Fortunately, my parents live in a quiet place quite far from me, but my city Mikolaiv is being bombed. We are very close to Odessa, in Crimea“, said.
Despite being safe, Buts cannot forget his belongings and his friends who have stayed in his city, bombed by Russian forces. “I watch the news many times a day and I am very worried because I have two houses and many friends there. I won’t be back until the war is over. Will I stay in Turkey or move my family to Italy. We want the world to be as peaceful as Turkey,” she stated.
For now, Buts is clinging to the idea of competing to make his family smile when they see him on television. “All I can do now is continue to compete aggressively even though my form is not ideal, because I want my friends and family to be able to smile when they see me on TV.“, he commented.