Fernando Gaviria achieved his first victory of 2024. The Movistar cyclist won the opening stage of the Tour Colombia, in front of an enthusiastic Colombian crowd.
Gaviria beat Davide Persico (Bingoal WB) who came in 2nd place and Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team), who had to settle for 3rd place. With the result, Fernando Gaviria is also the first overall leader of the competition.
Initial escape with 6 cyclists, one Brazilian among them
A massive sprint finish was already expected, but that didn’t stop seven cyclists from going on the attack.
The escape had 5 Colombian cyclists, David Santiago Gomez (Team Sistecredito), Diego Antonio Ochoa (Team Saitel), Brayan Sánchez (Team Medellín), Cristian Camilo Muñoz (Nu Colombia), Ivan Arturo Ojeda (Colombia Potencia de la Vida), the Mexican Ignacio Prado (Canels Java) and Brazilian Lauro Chaman (Swift Carbon Pro Cycling Brasil) completing the group.
At one point the seven escapees’ lead increased to more than two minutes, but the six leaders never really had the prospect of a feat. In the peloton, Movistar and Astana Qazaqstan, the teams of main favorites Fernando Gaviria and Mark Cavendish, maintained control of the escape. And so, with thirty kilometers to go, the lead had already shrunk to less than half a minute.
Lauro Chaman and Cristian Muñoz still tried one last move
Cristian Camilo Muñoz (Nu Colombia) and Lauro Chaman (Swift Carbon Pro Cycling Brasil) did their best to stay out of the peloton’s reach for as long as possible, which earned Chaman the award for most combative athlete of the day, but with nine kilometers to go towards the end the regrouping took place.
After a few small attacks, preparation for the sprint began. During the sprint, several teams tried to dominate the actions. Astana still got a good lead for Cavendish, while Fernando Gaviria was alone. However, the Colombian started the sprint in a good position, set the finishing time and was unable to be caught by the Italian Davide Persico and Mark Cavendish.
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Results of the 1st stage of the Tour Colombia 2024
The Giro do Ciclismo is waiting for the General Classification to be made available by the competition organizers. Once this happens, it will be made available on the website.