One year ago, Fabio Duarte had a hard time hitting peak condition in time for his first Giro d'Italia as Colombia leader but this year he is fully ready for the challenge. Today he missed the Giro del Trentino podium by less than a second after having finished in the top 10 in all three mountain stages.

Fabio Duarte leaves the Giro del Trentino aware that he has the condition to be a main player at the Giro d’Italia, but he could not manage to smile on the finish of the 4th and last stage, at the end of a 21 km ascent to the Monte Bondone.Team Colombia’s captain took 6th on the day, behind solo winner Mikel Landa (Astana), but the third step of the podium stays away from by for less than a second.

Along with overall winner Cadel Evans (BMC), Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r) and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre) stepped onto the final podium, second and third respectively.

Duarte closed with a 1.01 overall delay, having taken three top-10 placements in as many uphill finishes, and now leaves to Belgium (by car, since his passports is still locked in UK Embassy’s offices), to take part in the Liege-Bastogne-Liegewith ambitions, and forget the bitter feeling of seeing a podium chance vanish by less than a second after an outstanding race.

“I knew I had to stay in front of Niemec to step on the podium," Duarte explained. "The team did a great job, and I tried to make a move with 12 km to go, splintering the top group. Finally, I tried to make my sprint to the line, but Niemec pushed me to the barriers and I could not pass. I am disappointed, ‘cause I wanted to be on that podium.”

Another Team Colombia rider took part in the final awarding ceremony: Leonardo Duque won the Intermediate Sprints’ classification and wore the red jersey won 12 months ago by Jarlinson Pantano – who progressed consistently day by day here in Trentino after some weeks of hard altitude training.

Duque worked his way in three different break attempts on the day in order to get a chance to win the intermediate sprint and take back the jersey he had worn for the first time at the end of stage 2.

“It was my goal for this race, and I did my best to take it. Getting back home with a jersey in the bag is always good news, for both myself and the team,” Duque said.

Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi spoke his good feelings at the end of the race:

“Here at the Giro del Trentino we found some of the big names for the upcoming Giro d’Italia, and this performance means a lot to us. Beyond Duarte, who’s got a chance to race a very good Liege-Bastogne-Liege, we saw a good progression by Pantano and Quintero, and Duque was as reliable as ever. Compared to last year, we have a much bigger confidence looking to the Giro.”