They barely had the time to celebrated the much cherished Vuelta a Espana wild card, but it is already time for Colombia-Coldeportesto pack their luggage again for the third World Tour fixture in the space of two weeks. Ironically, Spain is the new destination of the Escarabajos: another top-level challenge expects them at the Vuelta a Catalunya (March 23-29), featuring some of the strongest stage racers of the moment.

While it is way too early to think about Vuelta a Espana dress rehersals, it is all but sure that the Colombian team will be in the thick of the attention, particularly after the good news released yesterday by Unipublic. The race has seven stages and plenty of climbs in store, and Team Colombia-Coldeportes will tackle it with a climbing-devoted team, with Oscar Pellicioli and Oliverio Rincon calling the shots from the team cars. 

Leading the team will be Alex Cano, back from Tirreno-Adriatico, and Rodolfo Torres, fresh off his Tour of Langkawi 8th overall place, in spite of the “cut” of Genting Highland decisive finish. Walter Pedraza, Edward Diaz, Cayetano Sarmiento and 18-year-old Daniel Martinez will be on hand to give support on the mountains, while experienced Leonardo Duque and Jonathan Paredes will round out the starting line-up in Calella on Monday, March 23rd. 

“The Vuelta a Espana wild card gives us further motivation for this prestigious race,” Alex Cano told. “Tirreno-Adriatico was crucial to really understand what it means to race in Europe, and doing it at such a high level: it was a very important lesson, and I hope to put it to good use at the Vuelta a Catalunya.”

Tomorrow, Sunday, an eight-man team – Avila, Duarte, Molano, Quintero, Brayan Ramirez, Carlos Mario Ramirez, Rubiano and Valencia – will line-up in Italy for the Classicissima di Primavera, Milan-Sanremo (293 km).