Vuelta a Colombia’s stage five
August’s biggest cycling race, the Vuelta a Colombia, runs from August 1-15. The 14-stage race began its 60th edition by offering some rare opportunity for sprinters to contend, but Thursday’s stage five returned to the traditional mountainous terrain. The fourth stage was a warm-up for the real mountains, and was won by Oscar Sevilla of team Indeportes Antioquias. Sevilla regained the overall lead on Wednesday and, despite entering stage five with the same time overall as runner-up Dalivier Ospina, maintained his hold on the race leader’s jersey.
"The most important thing is to manage the stress and try to not feel the pressure," said Sevilla after the stage.
Sevilla crossed the finish line in Socorro less than a bike-length behind stage-winner Fabio Duarte. Thirty-two riders survived the pass of the category-one Alto Chiflas to remain at the front of the race.
"Yesterday was a hard day for me," said Duarte. "But today I felt really good. I'm pretty happy with today's results, but have to thank my team and the support of my sponsors and my family," Duarte said.
The stage began in the valley Bucaramanga and the early escape was led by Alvaro Gómez, who collected the highest points for the first two sprints and the first mountain. Sevilla’s team tried to control the race after Gómez fell back into the peloton, but it was Félix Cárdenas, leader of GW-Shimano, who took the lead over the Alto Chiflas and remained in the leading group for most of the day.
"We worked really well today, both in the group and with our team, to control the attacks of Cárdenas," said Sevilla.
The riders who would ultimately win the day formed a group after the final climbs ahead of the king-of-the-mountain, Jaime Vegara. Duarte and Sevilla led the group ahead of the pack in anticipation of the dual at the finish line. Duarte won the stage but Sevilla added eight seconds to his overall lead ahead of Dalivier Ospina. Sevilla’s teammate Sergio Luis Henao stands in 3rd place, 11 seconds behind the leader.
Cárdenas finished in third, Diego Calderon in fourth and Henao in fifth, the trio finished one second behind Duarte and Sevilla. The leader entered the race after winning Colombia's Vuelta a Antioquia and is the favourite for the overall victory. 2008 winner Giovanni Baez stands in 14th place, 1:53 behind Sevilla, and the defending champion Jose Rujano stands in 25th, 4:51 behind.
The 165km stage six continues the increasing difficulty of the climbs and will include the category-one Alto del Sote in the final 15km.
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