Vuelta a Colombia stage nine recap
Oscar Sevilla took over the overall leader’s jersey in the Vuelta a Colombia in stage four last Wednesday, and held it through the difficult stage five and throughout the weekend. In Monday’s stage nine, listed among the most difficult days of the 14-stage race, the defending champion Jose Rujano took the stage and Sergio Luis Henao took over the leader’s jersey.
The Vuelta a Colombia is known as one of the most dangerous cycling races due to its traditionally treacherous mountain stages. This year, the organizers diversified the route, offering more opportunities for the sprinters to make a name, but stage nine was back on familiar Vuelta ground. Monday’s stage is one of the most difficult of the race, as is Tuesday’s stage 10. The pair of demanding, mountainous races is followed by the first and only rest day on Wednesday.
The 230km stage nine took riders from the Colombian capital of Bogotá to Libano over four categorized climbs up to a 2800m altitude, including the category-one Alto La Virgin 10km from the finish line. Rujano attacked on the final climb and dethroned Sevilla as the leader.
"I'm very proud to win the hardest stage of the this year's Vuelta a Colombia," said Rujano. "I think my win showed that I'm in a good condition for the Vuelta."
The new race leader climbed to a solo summit finish 1:28 ahead of second-place finisher Henao, an Indeportes-Antioquia teammate of Sevilla and former second-place overall. Rujano stands in sixth overall, 3:41 behind Henao
"Today was a really hard day and it was unlucky for Sevilla with his crash because we had worked hard together to reduce the gap between us and Rujano," said Henao. "We reduced a minute on Rujano's gap, but if Sevilla hadn't crashed we could have made up two minutes."
The former leader now stands in second place overall, 43 seconds behind his teammate, after a crash early in the stage, which also some William Menoz drop out of the race with a suspected broken clavicle. Sevilla finished stage nine in fourth, 1:56 behind Rujano in the same time as third-place finisher Fabio Duarte, who stands in ninth overall, 4:49 behind Henao. Young Darwin Atapuma stand in third, 3:02 behind.
"Tomorrow I'll try to attack to reduce more time in the general classification," said Rujano, who jumped to sixth from a previous standing of 21st overall.
Tuesday’s 203km stage ten tackled the 21km climb of La Linea, 3200m above sea level, as well as three other categorized climbs in a brutal course before the much-needed rest-day.
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