Just a couple of days after Tirreno-Adriatico has ended with Carlos Julian Quintero winning the green jersey, Team Colombia-Coldeportes is immediately on its way to a new World Tour event, one also known by the name of “La Classicissima”: Milan-Sanremo (March 22).

The 106th edition will be decided as always in the closing stages of the 293km Classic, which makes it the longest one-day race in the international calendar. Once again, the Poggio climb will provide the attackers the last opportunity to distance the sprinters and thus avoid a bunch finish on the Via Roma, in Sanremo.

Led by Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi, the Escarabajos are prepared for an aggressive race, with Carlos Julian Quintero in the first line, galvanized by his result in Tirreno-Adriatico and eager to banish the memory of a bad fall in his first Sanremo, three years ago. The team will also include the experienced Fabio Duarte, Miguel Angel Rubiano, Juan Pablo Valencia, youngsters Brayan Ramirez and Carlos Mario Ramirez, as well as Edwin Avila and neo-pro Sebastian Molano, the fast men of the squad.

“Quintero comes here with huge confidence”, Tebaldi said, “and he really wants to take advantage by his form and be a protagonist in this great classic. Milan-Sanremo is a very tough race, much harder than the altimetry lets you think, and not even the sprint finish on the Via Roma is a child’s game. Both Avila and Molano will make their debut in this race. Sebastian showed some promising signs in Malaysia, but considering he’s just 20-years-old and the race has 300 kilometers, we can’t put him under a huge pressure.”

“There’s no doubt about it” – Tebaldi continued – “we will try to put ourselves into the spotlight from the very beginning, and we have more than one option to do this. We are grateful for the wild card RCS Sport has provided us, and we want again to honor the race in the best possible way.”