Vuelta a Colombia weekend recap
The decisive stage five, the first truly mountainous stage of the 2010 Vuelta a Colombia, landed Oscar Sevilla a place as the overall leader of the race. Though he took over the leader’s jersey in stage four, he was technically tied with Dalivier Ospina, but his climbing skills proved him the better general classification rider. Over the weekend, Sevilla was unshakeable as the race leader, but the most decisive stages are still to come.
The Vuelta a Colombia has earned a reputation as one of the most difficult and dangerous cycling tours in the world because of its traditionally treacherous mountain stages. This year, the organizers made a point of diversifying the route, offering more chances for sprint finishes. The weekend stages were relatively calm, in anticipation of the looming stage 10. As of stage eight, Sevilla’s lead was followed by his teammate Sergio Luis Henao 11 seconds behind, and Dalivier Ospina in third, 35 seconds behind.
"Today was a very calm day, but the team still worked really hard all day," said Sevilla on Sunday. "Every day has one part that is really hard. Yesterday was the climb from the world championships, today it was up the Alto de Patios."
Friday’s 165km stage six was the second consecutive win for the Colombia es Pasion team, with a win by Giro d’Italia stage winner Luis Felipe Laverde, crossing the line ahead of teammate and stage five winner Fabio Duarte, who finished eight second behind in the same time as Sevilla. Jose Rujano, defending champion of the Vuelta a Colombia, was in the major breakaway and led much of the latter half of the stage.
"I feel I had a very good day today," said Laverde. "My expertise from the Giro was important because I had the brains to know when to attack for the stage win."
The race flattened out in Saturday’s stage seven, but the altitude was still hard on the lungs. The route was designed to celebrate the inauguration of the new Colombian president, and past by some of the country’s most historic landmarks. The stage was won by Freddy Gonzalez, two-time Giro d’Italia king-of-the-mountain, on a day which made no change to the general classification standings.
All of the race leaders finished Saturday’s stage together in the main pack, looking ahead to the mountains of the Vuelta’s second week. Sunday’s 207km stage was a bit more interesting, with five category-three climbs, all of them above 2600m. Diego Calderón took the stage with a solo win across the crowded finish line in Colombia’s capital city.
"I'm really happy to win today's stage, especially because it is in the team's home department," said Calderón. "I loved seeing all the fans today pushing for the team to win the stage."
Oscar Solis took over the king-of-the-mountain jersey from Jaime Vegara after being the first to summit the first two climbs.
"On day one I set a goal to pick up a stage win," said Solis. "Right now though, I'm very happy to take the King of the Mountains jersey and I'll try my hardest to defend it."
Felix Cardenas earned a third-place spot in the points classification, behind Sevilla and Henau. He stands in fourth in the general classification, 46 seconds behind Ospina, the third place. Tuesday’s stage 10 is the queen stage, following the grueling ninth, arguably the two most difficult stages of the race.
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