Harold Tejada of the Astana Qazaqstan Team won the second stage of the Tour Colombia. In a challenging stage of almost 170 kilometers, the Colombian cyclist proved to be the best among a group of eight, who survived a group of fugitives that had 17 cyclists.
Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost) came second in the stage classification, followed by Óscar Sevilla (Team Medellín-EPM).
Difficult hill stage and pressure from the Movistar team
Following Fernando Gaviria’s sprint victory the day before, the second day of the Tour Colombia featured a 168-kilometre stage, with categorized ascents. During the route, the cyclists faced more than 2,300 meters of altitude, the most decisive part was in Alto Malterias Pinos (2.6 km at 5.2%). The finish line was located four kilometers after the top of this climb.
In the initial escape were unknown names such as Efrén Santos, Esteban Villarreal, Javier Jamaica, Bernardo Suaza, Daniel Méndez and Freddy Ávila. However, due to the altitude and the formation of winds, this advantage quickly disappeared. The peloton broke into pieces and a large group of over fifteen leaders managed to escape. This group gained an advantage of more than two minutes.
Fight for first place: Harold Tejada against Andrea Piccolo
The chase was mainly led by the Movistar team, but it was not fast enough. The lead managed to increase the advantage to 2min 30sec with 20 kilometers to the finish line. In the lead, Andrea Piccolo, Harold Tejada, Aaron Van der Beken, Óscar Sevilla and former professional Rodrigo Contreras stood out.
Óscar Sevilla, now 47 years old, managed to gain a few seconds of bonus time during the flying goal at the start of Alto Malterias Pinos. He then accelerated along with Robinson Chalapud, managing to distance himself from the group. Despite this, a group of pursuers managed to join them.
Last decisive kilometers
In the last three practically flat kilometers towards the finishing city, Santa Rosa de Viterbo, the competition was completely open. Eight competitors, including Piccolo and Tejada, had dreams of winning the stage.
Piccolo started his sprint 200 meters from the finish line, however, in his shadow, Tejada followed him. Tejada’s strategic move paid off, resulting in him winning the stage by a considerable margin.
With the result, Harold Tejada takes the overall lead of the Tour Colombia followed by Oscar Sevilla (Team Medellin), who achieved bonus time in the flying targets, by just 1 second difference. Andrea Piccolo (EF Education EasyPost) appears in 3rd place overall in the test.
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Results of the 2nd stage of the Tour Colombia 2024
