After the worst cycling crash of his life, the Belizean cycling icon questions whether it’s finally time to step back.
Santiago “Santino” Castillo Jr – Photo Courtesy: Santino
By Rubén Morales Iglesias: The cycling world in Belize may be on the verge of closing a historic chapter. After a devastating cycling crash on December 14, 2025, 69‑year‑old Santiago “Santino” Castillo Jr — rider, sponsor, mentor, businessman, and one of the sport’s most enduring figures — is now weighing whether it’s time to step away from competitive racing.
The accident happened in Hattieville on the George Price Highway during the first leg of a Weekend Warriors race from Old Belize to La Democracia and back. Castillo said a young rider collided into him, and the impact sent him flying into the air. He fell unconscious on the pavement and was rushed for medical care. He was hospitalized at Belize Medical Associates for eight days and was released on December 22.
He had knocked his head and body very hard on impact and suffered serious head and chest injuries, seven broken ribs, two broken clavicles, a broken finger, and extensive bruising. After decades of bouncing back from injuries, this one is forcing him to listen to doctors’ warnings about his long‑term health.
“My skull got damaged terribly,” Santino told Breaking Belize News. “I have never in my life been hurt this bad in anything. I was at the hospital eight days. I’ve never, ever been hurt this bad in my life.”
“On a scale of zero to ten, ten being the best and zero being the worst, I am probably about 4.5 or 5 right now,” he said. “So, I am terribly, terribly wounded still yet.”
For a man who has lived at full speed for more than half a century, the sudden stillness has been jarring. “By every evening, around six, 6:30 the latest, I am knocked out,” he said.
Santiago “Santino” Castillo Jr (right) with Ernest “Jawmeighan” Meighan after the 2001 Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Classic victory – Photo Courtesy: Santino
Santino said his cycling journey began in 1980, when he sponsored his first rider, Glenn Gordon. From there, he built one of the most successful sponsorship legacies in Belizean cycling history.
“I won 12 Cross Countries as a sponsor,” he said proudly. Those victories included Alpheus Williams (1981, 1982, 1984), Robert Mossiah (1985), Matthew Smiling (1986), Ward Zauner (1987), Steve Stewart (1988), Chris Frederick (1999), Ernest “Jawmeighan” Meighan (2001), Eduardo Uribe (2002), and Darnell Barrow (2013). “And in 2015, I retired,” Santino said — referring to his retirement from sponsoring elite teams.
By this time Santino was on the bike himself, and being the competitive man he is, he took to riding races in Belize and abroad in places like Mexico, Guatemala, the United States, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic.
And sponsorship retirement never quite stuck.
“I helped out a little group in 2024 and 2025,” he said, listing riders like Joslyn Chavarría Jr., James Alford, and Joshua Fuller. He also continued to race internationally, where he felt safer. “When I ride anywhere in the world, I ride just my age category,” he explained. “In Belize, they ride all out. They don’t have age categories. They knock you down with anything else.”
The December crash only deepened his concern.
“The guy that knocked me down, I’m 43 years older than him,” Santino said. “He was on the wrong side of the road and nearly ran into a vehicle, got frightened, he went from left to right hand side and ran straight into me,” he said. “Bang, bang, boom — done.”
“I have never crashed training. I’ve only crashed in races — but only in Belize. I’ve never crashed in a race outside of Belize,” he added. “I’ve never ever been hurt this bad in my life.”
His injuries have forced him to confront a painful truth — one he has been thinking about deeply. Santino trains seven days a week: three days in the gym and four days on the bike. That level of fitness, he believes, is what saved his life in this crash. But it is also the same fitness that keeps him racing, pushing, and putting himself in situations where accidents can happen.
As he put it, “The same thing that saved me is the same thing that will damage me,” he said. “You have to decide what you want in life. And what I want in life is I want to continue to live a good life.”
Santiago “Santino” Castillo Jr (right) with the Santino Cycling Team which included Ernest “Jawmeighan” Meighan (stooping) and Geovannie “Froggy” Leslie (right), among others – Photo Courtesy: Santino
Castillo has always lived broadly. Beyond cycling, he has been a businessman, managing the Santiago Castillo Group of Companies founded by his father. He has been a horseman — though not without mishaps. “When I got into the accident with the horse, my mother and my wife asked me to give up the horse,” he recalled. And in the 1980s and 90s, he was a fixture in Belizean music, owning Santino’s Messengers and Santino’s Baby Messengers. Because at his core, Santino has always been a man who never lived life halfway.
Now, he is weighing his future. “I plan to resign from racing in Belize,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t race internationally. It all depends on my recuperation.” He trains seven days a week — gym three times, cycling four — and he believes that discipline will guide his recovery. “When I get ten out of ten and I start to ride my bike and I see where I am, then I’ll make a final decision.”
Santiago “Santino” Castillo Jr (right) finished third in a race on November 29, 2025, at Willows Bank. Photo Courtesy: Santino
If he ever races in Belize again, it will be on his terms. “I will only race if I organize a race for 50-plus,” he said. “I’ll be 70 next year — I’d be giving them 20 years [advantage].”
For now, Santino is listening to the message he believes the accident carried. “If this is a little sign from God of what could happen, then I have to take it as a warning,” he said.
Whatever comes next, Santino’s imprint on Belizean cycling is permanent — in the champions he sponsored, the races he shaped, the Masters Tour he created, and the generations he inspired.
And even now, bruised, bandaged, and healing, he remains unmistakably Santino — determined, reflective, and still looking forward.
Santiago “Santino” Castillo Jr (center) crossing the finish line in a race. – Photo Courtesy: Santino
The post A Cycling Life at the Crossroads: Will Santino retire after life‑threatening crash? appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
After the worst cycling crash of his life, the Belizean cycling icon questions whether it’s finally time to step back. Santiago “Santino” Castillo Jr – Photo Courtesy: Santino By Rubén Morales Iglesias: The cycling world in Belize may be on the verge of closing a historic chapter. After a devastating cycling crash on December 14, 2025,
The post A Cycling Life at the Crossroads: Will Santino retire after life‑threatening crash? appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.