A total of 144 riders representing 24 teams were pre-registered with the Colombian Cycling Federation to compete in the fourth edition of the Tour Colombia 2.1 2024, an event supported by the Ministry of Sports, which will take place from February 6 to 11, along the roads of Boyacá and Cundinamarca.
The international group will be made up of three WorldTeam squads, two ProTeams, 14 Continental teams and five national teams, which have accepted the invitation of the Colombian Cycling Federation to compete in our country.
The Movistar Team will be led by Nairo Quintana, champion of the Giro d’Italia in 2014 and the Vuelta a España in 2016; who will be accompanied in the race by Iván Ramiro Sosa, double champion in the Vuelta a Burgos (2018 and 2019) and the Tour of Langkawi (2021); Fernando Gaviria, winner of stages in the Giro d’Italia (5) and the Tour de France (2); the Spaniards Sergio Samitier, double mountain champion in the Tour of the Alps, and Albert Torres, a runner who has participated in three editions of the Giro d’Italia and one of the Tour de France, and the Brazilian Vinicius Rangel, champion of the Vuelta to Cantabria and the Vuelta a Salamanca, from the Spanish amateur calendar and runner who was Brazilian national champion in the 2022 season.
The EF Education – Easypost will have in its squad the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, Olympic road champion in Tokyo 2020 and the Giro d’Italia in 2019; to Rigoberto Urán, who has a silver medal on the route of the London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as the subtitles in the 2017 Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, in the 2013 and 2014 seasons; and Esteban Chaves, runner-up in the Giro d’Italia and third in the Vuelta a España in the 2016 season.
Also noteworthy is the participation in the race for the first time of the Costa Rican Andrey Amador, fourth overall in the 2015 Giro d’Italia; from the Ecuadorian Jefferson Cepeda, runner-up in the Tour of Langkawi last season and from the Italian Andrea Piccolo, runner-up in 2022 of the Japan Cup Cycle and the Getxo Circuit – Memorial Hermanos Otxoa.
For its part, the Astana Qazaqstan Team will be present with a roster led by the British Mark Cavendish, who has 34 stage victories in the Tour de France, 17 in the Giro d’Italia and three in the Vuelta a España. , in addition to the title of world road champion in 2011 and the silver medal in the omnium at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Cavendish will be accompanied by riders such as the Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko, champion in 2023 of the Giro de Sicily and the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey; the Dutch Cees Bol, winner of stages in Paris-Nice (2021), the Vuelta al Algarve (2020) and the Tour of Britain (2022), and the Danish Michael Morkov, stage winner in the Vuelta a España (2013) and who debuts in the Kazakh squad after his time at Soudal – Quick Step, a team in which he competed in the last six seasons. The Colombian Harold Tejada will complete the roster, who will participate in the Tour for the second time, and the Ecuadorian Harold López, runner-up among young people in the Vuelta a Burgos 2023.
From the Proteam category, the European teams Bingoal WB from Belgium and Corratec from Italy have agreed to participate in the race, who will debut in the competition, which will begin on Tuesday, February 6 in the Boyacá municipality of Paipa.
In the continental category, the Universe Cycling Team from the Netherlands confirmed their participation; the Sidi Ali-Unlock Team from Morocco; Banco Guayaquil and Team Saitel from Ecuador; Canel’s Pro Cycling and Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocatolli from Mexico; the Swift Carbon Pro Cycling from Brazil, and the Panama es Cultura.
For their part, the Colombian continental teams that will be in competition will be: Team Medellín EPM, Colombia Potencia de la Vida Strongman, Nu Colombia, GW Erco Shimano, Team Sistecrédito and Orgullo Paisa.
Finally, the platoon will be completed with the National Teams of Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Estonia and Venezuela, for a total of 144 runners who will fight for the title of the race and to meet the successor of the Antioquian Sergio Higuita, champion of the edition of 2020.
The Colombian National Team, which will be under the command of Carlos Mario Jaramillo, will be led by Egan Bernal, champion of the Tour de France in 2019 and the Giro d’Italia in 2021, who will be accompanied by his teammate in the INEOS Grenadiers Brandon Rivera; by Jonathan Restrepo and German Darío Gómez, who for this season joined the lineup of Team Polti Kometa from Italy and by Juan Diego Alba, cyclist from the Movistar Best PC registry from Ecuador.
It should be noted that Jesús David Peña, who rides for the Australian team Team Jayco AlUla and who was called up for the Tour, will not be able to participate due to commitments with his team, which is why the U-23 cyclist Hugo Rodríguez joins the call. which is part of the British Trinity Racing team.
Source: Fedeciclismo.com