One-two finish for Indeportes-Antioquia in Colombia
Sergio Luis Henao was the first and last person to wear the leader’s jersey in the 2010 Vuelta a Colombia, August’s biggest cycling race. The 23-year-old Colombian crossed the finish line first in the opening time-trial and though the leader’s jersey was passed around in the first half of the race, he re-took it in stage nine and held it until the end thanks to his victory in stage 10, the most difficult stage of the tour, including the dreaded climb of La Linea.
"I've trained very hard for this and hopefully I have a big future in cycling. I'm going to give the trophy to my father because he was that one that trained me to be a cyclist," Henao said.
Henao was joined on the podium after the 14th and final stage, a time trial through the capital city of Medellin, by his Indeportes Antioquia team-mate Óscar Sevilla who finished in second 1:49 behind the winner, and Jose Rujano in third place at 3:02 behind. Sevilla had held the leader’s jersey before stage nine, when he couldn’t contend on the climbs. The ninth and tenth stages, held on Monday and Tuesday, were the most demanding stages for the general classification contenders, so the race leaders took the opportunity to relax on Thursday, a relatively flat sprinter’s stage, which Henao finished in the peloton.
"I'm very happy to be able to keep the leader's jersey today," said Henao after stage 11. "The rest day was perfect for the team because we felt we could push it today if we needed to."
Rujano was the defending champion of the event, but Henao managed to keep up with him through the gruelling mountains of the Vuelta a Colombia, the most mountainous (and dangerous) cycling tour in the world, with climbs hundreds of metres higher than the Grand Tours. Rujano finished the race with the king-of-the-mountain jersey.
"First I'd like to congratulate Sergio Luis and his team," Rujano said. "I tried to fight but I have a big rival in him. I gave it my best effort this year, but Sergio Luis is a great rider."
206km stage 13 was one of the most gruelling, but Henao’s third place finish was enough to virtually cement his overall victory. He entered stage 14, a 34km time-trial, with victory all but guaranteed. His team-mate and second-place overall Sevilla won the stage and the pair brought Colombian domination back to the event, after Rujano last year was only the third foreign winner of the Vuelta a Colombia.
"I'm very happy to win this stage, but I'm more happy for Sergio Luis," said Sevilla. "He's a young, great talent."
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