Team Colombia-Coldeportes has enjoyed a really encouraging first day at the Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali, with strong placings in both half-stages that took place on Thursday: Edwin Avila was 6th in the morning sprint stage, while the A quartet came 5th in the afternoon team time trial, after averaging more than 53 km/h.

The morning half-stage (Gatteo-Gatteo, 99,5 km) saw the riders led by Valerio Tebaldi and Oliverio Rincon being among the protagonists, especially in the finale, after the attempt of the men who had animated the start of the race – Gianfranco Zilioli (Androni Giocattoli), Adrien Niyoshuti (MTN Qhubeka), Davide Ballerini (Unieuro Wilier), Bruno Maltar (Meridiana Kamen) and Matthias Krizek (Felbermayr) – was neutralized with less than 10 km to go until the end.

In the last kilometers, Miguel Angel Rubiano, Carlos Julian Quintero and Brayan Ramirez helped Edwin Avila in the final sprint, where the two-time World Points Champion came in 6th. The victory went to Manuel Belletti (Southeast), ahead of Grega Bole (CCC) and Patrick Clausen (Trefor-Blue Water).

In the afternoon, the team time trial (Gatteo a Mare-Gatteo, 13,3 km) saw the squads split into quartets, as it happens for several years in the race. Stopping the clock after 14:49, CCC-Sprandi (Rebellin, Kiendys, Kurek, Marycz) took the win, with Davide Rebellin taking the leader’s jersey, while the Colombian quartet of Carlos Julian Quintero, Fabio Duarte, Edwin Avila and Brayan Ramirez got a very strong result, finishing in 5th place, just 9 seconds behind the winners.

The second quartet of Escarabajos – Carlos Mario Ramirez, Miguel Angel Rubiano, Juan Pablo Valencia and Sebastian Molano – came home in 15:47. After the first day of racing, Edwin Avila, Carlos Quintero and Brayan Ramirez are 15th, 16th, and respectively 17th in the overall standings, 9 seconds behind Rebellin.

Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi was satisfied with these results he said in a talk with the Colombia Pro Cycling website:

“Today, I am returning to the hotel with a big smile, because I have no reproach to the team, after racing both half-stages at its very best. In the morning, we took over the responsibility in the stage’s finale, working as a real team and helping Avila in a very hard-fought sprint. For the team time trial, we’ve studied every detail of the course and left nothing to chance, and this brought us the result we had hoped for, with an average speed (over 53 km/h) that leaves us satisfied. It’s the first day, but we can say that we’ve started this edition of Coppi e Bartali on the right foot.”

The race will continue tomorrow with the second stage, Cesenatico-Sogliano al Rubicone (156,2 km), with five laps over a demanding circuit, that will help shape the general classification.

n the Volta a Catalunya, stage four (Tona-La Molina, 188 km) took place today, and saw the American Tejay van Garderen (BMC) taking a solo victory, ahead of Richie Porte (Team Sky) and Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R-La Mondiale), while the leader’s jersey has changed its owner, and now lies on the shoulders of Bart De Clercq (Lotto-Soudal).

After being in the breakaway yesterday, Team Colombia-Coldeportes’ Leonardo Duque has again attempted to go in the escape, but had no luck, while Alex Cano gave a positive sign in the finale: the 26th place, 1:30 behind the winner, in a very challenging stage, with four categorized climbs, represents a new step forward for Alex in the process he undergoes in order to adapt to European cycling.

Tomorrow, Friday, stage five will take the peloton from Alp to Valls (195,4 km): a climb awaits in the final, but after two very demanding stages, a breakaway will have its chance of succeeding.