The Colombian team promises that they will show what they are really capable off

Team Colombia is set to make an impact on the Giro, after receiving their second consecutive wildcard.

“We were excited to receive the wildcard twelve months ago, but this time it might be even more thrilling: last year it was our debut, but this time receiving this wildcard means a lot more in comparison,” general manager Claudio Corti told the press in Colombia. “It means that we managed to show the real value of our project, in technical, professional and organizational terms.”

“Reaching the top in the sports world is never easy, but managing to stay there is really the hardest part: now we have one more year of experience and maturation, and we will show what we are really able to do.”

Last season Team Colombia did very decent indeed. Atapuma won the Passo Pordoi stage in the Giro del Trentino, and placed second in the Tour of California’s Mount Baldy stage after Gesink. With Chavez and Duarte they won the GP Camaiore and the Coppa Sabatini. It was therefore natural that much was expected of them in the Giro.

Nonetheless, the team somewhat failed to show themselves and the abilities of its Colombian Escarabajos in the Giro d’Italia, and Fabio Duarte’s second place, on the twentieth stage, was as close as they got.

They seem to be ready for a second time around though, and Duarte looks like their best bet. He is now in the peak age for a rider, and his performance last year at the Cime de Lavaredo was splendid. Only eventual overall winner Nibali could beat him.

“I am very happy, I was very confident this news would come,” Duarte told the Colombian press. “I believed in our chances due to the confidence I have in Claudio Corti, who made a great job of leading this team to the highest level in organizational quality.

“We owe him a lot, and we need to thank him. We are obviously grateful to Coldeportes and the Colombian Olympic Committee that made this project come to life in first place, and all the supporters who helped us with the #Colombia4Giro campaign. Once again they have been a huge part of this outcome, and I really want them to know it.”