“Today we wanted to get on the break to take the king of the mountains jersey, and we succeeded”. Sports Director Oscar Pellicioli’s words summarized Bayern Rundfahrt opening stage (Regensburg – Waldsassen 221,3 Km) – in whichTeam Colombia-Coldeportes’ Escarabajos were in the spotlight with plenty of guts. The team’s effort was rewarded with the best climber’s jersey worn by Rodolfo Torres, part of the day’s breakaway.

Irish Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) clinched victory in the bunch sprint, preceding German John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin) and French Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis), whilst Leonardo Duque, 12, was the first Colombia-Coldeportes’ athlete on the finish line

In the early phases of the race, 6 athletes moved on the attack: Torres, Koch (Team Brandenburg), Vorganov (Katusha), Weber (Stuttgart), Meintjes (MTN-Qhubeka) and Edmuller (Team Heizomat). Colombia-Coldeportes’ climber conquered the two KOM, whilst in the second part of the race he distanced the other escapees  along Vorganov and Meintjes

The breakaway group was caught by the peloton, led by Cofidis and Giant, with 15 Km to go. At this point, two more Colombia-Coldeportes’ athletes, Juan Pablo Valencia and Carlos Quintero, tried to anticipate the final sprint won by Sam Bennett

“The first part of the season showed the team with the quality and the best approach we always strongly believed in”, Sports Director Pellicioli explained. “Winning is never easy, but our athletes always have the goal to leave their mark on the race”.

Tomorrow, Thursday May 14th, the Escarabajos will take part at the stage 2 (Waldsassen – Selb 179,5 Km), characterized by a nervous route.