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Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) gained stage 1 of Tour Colombia in a high-altitude bunch dash forward of Davide Persico (Bingoal WB) and Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan).
Regardless of a really stable lead out from Astana, and a clear line to the end, Cavendish was unable to match the pace of Persico or residence favorite Gaviria, who burst via the pack on the left aspect of the street and breezed to a victory forward.
The race, which returned after a three-year hiatus, opened with what was on paper a reasonably simple dash stage. However, as is normal in Colombian racing, there was a twist with the stage ending at an altitude of two,490 metres. The entire 156km stage hovered across the 2,500-metre mark because the peloton took on a modified circuit race round Sogamoso.
A big break of Latin American riders shaped the principle escape of the day, however with a flat day on faucet their benefit was stored in verify by Cavendish’s Astana Qazaqstan crew and Movistar for Gaviria.
By the 10km to go mark a dash was all however assured as Cavendish’s revamped Astana lead-out was in full management of the peloton, regardless of a few last-ditch flyers coming from the home riders. Nonetheless, in the long run, their efforts weren’t to be rewarded as the house rider Gaviria proved the quickest rider within the bunch, taking victory on his first day of racing in 2024.
Sprinters feast because the Tour Colombia returns
The opening stage of the 2024 Tour Colombia was set to be a sprinter’s delight with 156km of flat circuit racing on faucet for the peloton which pitted a number of the high sprinters from the WorldTour in opposition to the Latin American skilled peloton.
Whereas there might have been solely three WorldTour groups in complete on the Tour Colombia, Movistar and Astana each introduced their high sprinters in Gaviria and Cavendish, respectively.
Astana introduced most of their high leadout riders to offer Cavendish his first costume rehearsal earlier than the Tour de France this summer time.
The break of the day went early with most of the Latin American groups eager to get their sponsors some TV time earlier than the seemingly dash end. Finally, it was a breakaway of seven who made it up the street, with Bryana Sánchez (Group Medellín), Ignacio Prado (Canels Java), Lauro Moro (Swift Carbon), Diego Ochoa (Group Saitel) Cristian Muñoz (NU Colombia) David Gómez (Group Sistecrédito) and Iván Ojeda (Colombia Potencia de Vida).
The seven have been by no means given a lot of a bonus, with the hole holding below the two-minute mark. The break contested the three sprints of the stage, taking what they may earlier than the inevitable catch got here.
Within the final 20km, the breakaway started to splinter. The final man standing was the Brazilian Lauro Moro who outlasted the remainder of the breakaway because the WorldTour groups marshalled the peloton earlier than he was introduced again into the fold for the ultimate run to the road.
From 5km to go it was all Astana on the entrance because the likes of Alexey Lutsenko drove the tempo for Cavendish. Their management continued into the final km of racing earlier than Cavendish’s ultimate leadout man Michael Mørkøv got here to the entrance to launch their dash a pair hundred metres nearer to the road.
Gaviria didn’t hesitate and launched his dash from far out on the other aspect of the street. Cavendish got here throughout the street to try to discover the Colombian’s slipstream however didn’t have sufficient to speed up from his wheel as Gaviria flew to the victory forward of Cavendish and Davide Persico who tried to squeeze between the boundaries and Gaviria on the finish.
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