A very intense weekend is in store for Team Colombia-Coldeportes: in addition to the Etoile de Besseges, ending on Sunday February 8, Claudio Corti’s team will take part in GP Costa degli Etruschi, in Italy, and the Colombian National Championships road race, both on the same Sunday February 8.

In Tuscany, the team guided by Sports Director Oscar Pellicioli will face the first Italian race of the season, from San Vincenzo to Donoratico (196km), led by Rodolfo Torres, strong off the overall second place and the KOM title at the Tour de San Luis. Another rider returning from Argentina, Juan Pablo Valencia, will also make the line-up, along with Fabio Duarte (in his season’s debut), Cayetano Sarmiento and 18-year-old Daniel Martinez, both racing in a Colombia-Coldeportes’ jersey for the first time.

Meantime, in Colombia, specifically in the Antioquia region, Miguel Angel Rubiano, Jonathan Paredes, Edward Diaz, Darwin Pantoja and new-signing Alex Cano will try to keep within the team the Colombian National road title conquered by Rubiano on April 2014. This year, the event (Medellin–Mall Llanogrande, 172lm) will see at the start the best riders of Colombian movement, such as Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Uran.

“It will be a busy weekend, but we are heading to it with confidence”, Oscar Pellicioli said. “Torres clearly showed his good condition in San Luis, and we feel like he can perform well in Donoratico too, whilst in Colombia our riders will have an extra motivation to bring the National title back into the team: we would be proud to bring the Tricolor jersey all around the World once again.”

GP Costa degli Etruschi (February 8)

Line-up: Fabio Duarte, Daniel Martinez, Cayetano Sarmiento, Rodolfo Torres, Juan Pablo Valencia

Colombian National Championships (February 8)

Line-up: Alex Cano, Edward Diaz, Darwin Pantoja, Jonathan Paredes, Miguel Angel Rubiano