After a nice start of the season at the Tour de San Luis, Team Colombia will make its season debut on the European soil at the GP Costa degli Etruschi (February 2nd), after the event was brought back to its original place in the international cycling calendar.
For the second consecutive season, the route from San Vincenzo to Donoratico will be characterized by two ascents to the Torre Segalari climb (2,9 km with a 9% average gradient), set to cut sprinters off the favorites’ list, after traditionally dominating the event for years.
A strong protagonist of last year’s edition, that saw him on the break for many kilometres, Juan Pablo Valencia showed at Tour de San Luis, good athletic condition, and will make the race’s line-up as well as Fabio Duarte. Under the guidance of Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi, six riders will make their debut in the 2014 campaign: Robinson Chalapud, Jarlinson Pantano, Jeffry Romero, Carlos Julian Quintero, Duber Quintero and Rodolfo Torres, the latter making his very first appearance in a Team Colombia outfit.
“There is always expectation ahead of early season challenges, but it is always a hard task to make predictions at this time of the year,” Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi explained – “We know where our guys are, not so much about the others. Nevertheless, we got some good indications at the Tour de San Luis, and we will be looking to race hard in every phase of the race.”
