A Colombian Spring in Old Europe

Plenty has happened on the old cycling continent, but something like this I don’t remember, nor do I think anyone else will. And how could you remember something that has never happened before?

Well, once upon a time there was and there wasn’t — what could be better than God?! Nothing at all… Another spring, the spring of 2017, arrived. Little by little the cycling world began to wake from its winter sleep. First it warmed its old bones on the green continent, then, deciding that wasn’t enough, it gave itself over to enjoying Arab hospitality, and so, dragging its feet, it finally unpacked in good old Europe!

Ah, who’s going to let you rest here, brother? This is a different cycling dimension, a different war. The chosen ones have already spent a century fighting these wars! Yes, a century! The breeze of the Monuments and Classics was in the air — what breeze, it’s a whirlwind! It blew, and a fierce war flared up!

Before the year’s first Monument (Milan–San Remo), there are Paris–Nice, known as the Race to the Sun, held since 1933, and Tirreno–Adriatico, known as the Race of the Two Seas, held since 1966. Both one-week races are highly valued in the cycling community. The chosen ones battle here for the general classification, but in both pelotons there is always a solid group of riders for whom the main task is preparing for La Primavera. Still, if something comes their way, no one looks the other way, and they gladly add a stage win here to their list of cherished victories.

What could possibly happen here that we hadn’t seen before? Could these races, with their thousand adventures behind them, still surprise us? Yes! For example, the appearance of a Georgian in either peloton would be quite astonishing. Just an appearance — even talking about anything more brings a smile. Sadly, though, this belongs to the realm of fantasy and is, for now, a dream that is truly hard to imagine!

At one time, every Colombian enthusiast of racing on motorless two-wheelers would surely have written the same. At one time they would have, yes — but in recent years we’ve been talking about far more than Colombians merely appearing!

In the spring one-week races they have not only appeared — they have already notched up victories, and what victories they were. First, in 2014, Carlos Alberto Betancur Gómez — now lost and scattered in Movistar’s constellation, but back then a rising star racing in the ranks of AG2R — won the general classification of Paris–Nice for the first time in the history of Colombian cycling, adding two stages to boot.

 

 

The following year, also for the first time in the history of Colombian cycling, one of the brightest stars of Movistar’s constellation — then as now — Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas claimed the general classification of Tirreno–Adriatico. Back then, Nairo secured the Race of the Two Seas against the most serious rivals with a brilliant win on the legendary snowy stage.

 

 

In last year’s two races, others were in the spotlight, though Sergio Henao tested his strength in the French race and, given team tactics, took a fairly high sixth place — first place, after all, went to his teammate Geraint Thomas. As it turned out, last year’s effort did not go to waste.

2017 arrived, and spring in old cycling Europe turned Colombian!

On March 5 and 8 respectively, Paris–Nice and then Tirreno–Adriatico got under way.

If we had looked at the start list of the Race to the Sun and spent even a little time on a less-than-detailed analysis of the stages, the legendary El Pistolero (Alberto Contador, Spain) would have seemed the main favorite from the outset. However, Alberto’s main target this year is the French Grand Tour, and no one expected him to fly in the mountains just yet. And yet no other rider of his rank could be found in this peloton, and it was crystal clear that he would still try to act according to his rank. It must be said that in such a situation every small detail matters enormously, and just such a detail slipped by on the very first stage. That day the route ran around Paris. A short distance and a gentle profile were joined by bad weather; nevertheless the race started at its usual rhythm. A breakaway group formed and had gained an advantage of almost six minutes by kilometer 50. Naturally, the sprinters’ teams wouldn’t accept that, and FDJ and Quick-Step raised the pace of the chase.

 

 

A crosswind split the group and an echelon formed. As became clear by the end of the race, it was precisely at this moment that the small detail mentioned earlier slipped past Conta: he himself was left in the dropped part, while the future champion was comfortably settled in the chasers’ fast train. The chasers achieved their goal, and FDJ took the stage thanks to Arnaud Démare’s effort, while Contador conceded almost a minute to the future winner. I won’t go through the race stage by stage. I’ll just say that although Alberto tried hard — one could say he gave his maximum for this time of year — he still couldn’t overtake the leader in the general classification and had to settle for second place.

 

 

The winner over the eight stages — remember, the one who had jumped onto that fast train in time and didn’t fall asleep when it mattered — turned out to be the Colombian Sergio Luis Henao Montoya. With the help of his team he defended himself brilliantly and beat the legendary El Pistolero by just two seconds.

 

 

A far more serious line-up gathered in Italy. Just a look at the constellation of Classics riders in the peloton there was worth it — mentioning the reigning Olympic and world champions alone was enough to see the charm of this year’s Race of the Two Seas.

 

 

I’ll add right away that the Olympic champion didn’t get anything out of it, while the world champion added two different stages to his already very rich collection.

It was clear that the general classification of this year’s Tirreno–Adriatico would be decided on the fourth, mountain stage — unless someone again let a small detail slip. Although the race opened with a team time trial, won by the undisputed leader of the genre, BMC, the stage was short and the favorites’ teams didn’t lose much time. Looking at the results, you could see even without a magnifying glass that BMC had won the stage, but the leader among the riders fighting for the general classification was from a completely different team.

 

 

I must certainly highlight the racing wisdom of one of the world peloton’s outstanding stars, the greatest Colombian, Nairo Quintana — though for fairness I must also add the exceptional quality of his unique team, Movistar, something many big names lack. First of all, the aforementioned Alberto Contador. If Nairo is wise, he also has a great army backing him, and this will surely show in the big races in the future too. For now I’ll only say that both Quintana and his team raced brilliantly, and the Colombian won the general classification of this race for the second time.

 

 

Be that as it may, the result was a Colombian spring in old Europe! For the first time in history, a Colombian won the general classification of both races in the same year!

 

 

 

Just a few years ago, who would have imagined this?! Do you think I’m trying to say something? No, what are you talking about — a few years won’t be enough for us; even a few decades is doubtful… I’ll be the first to be glad if I’m wrong!

 

 

 

 

 

Featured image: Yuzuru SUNADA/www.yuzurusunada.com

Inside post thumbnail image: Yuzuru SUNADA/www.yuzurusunada.com

 

Special thanks to the Japanese photographer Yuzuru SUNADA for permission to use his works in our publications.

 

 

 

Translated from Georgian with the assistance of Claude (Anthropic), reviewed by the Velorbola editors.