Two of the youngest Colombia-Coldeportes riders were the highest notes for Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi at GP Industria e Commercio di Prato on Sunday September 20th. Daniele Bennati (Italian National Team) landed the spoils out of a 5-man breakaway group, seeing off Marco Marcato (Wanty-Gobert) and Davide Rebellin (CCC-Sprandi), but behind them the “Escarabajos”’ prospects were showing quality and personality on the attack.

After Bennati, Marcato, Rebellin, Vincenzo Nibali (Italian National Team) and Luca Wackermann (Southeast) had moved away from the bunch with 50 km to go, the Escarabajos took the responsibility of the chase, keeping the distance within a minute. Later on, Brayan Ramirez and Daniel Martinez made their move, taking away an eight-man action that got within 30 seconds of the leading group.

The strong pace of the frontrunners kept the chasers at distance, and the action of the two Escarabajoswas eventually reeled in by the bunch with 3 km to go, but it was still a very solid display by two prospects of 22 (Ramirez) and 19 years (Martinez). The best Escarabajos in the main bunch sprint was Miguel Angel Rubiano, 18th to the line.

“Today we reacted as a team to the attack of some of the strongest riders at the moment. Brayan and Daniel did very good today, racing with personality and backed by a strong performance,” Sports Director Tebaldi explained. “Ramirez came out of his first Grand Tour in swing, in spite of having spent a huge lot of energy: it is a sign of intelligence and commitment. Martinez continues to impress too: he did not race the Vuelta, but his condition is very similar to one month ago, in Utah. They are talented riders, and it is good to see them in contention deep into the season.”

General Manager Claudio Corti also had something to say on the youngest athlete in the UCI Pro Continental circuit:

“Today four of our athletes – Avila, Quintero, Cano and Molano – have flown to Richmond, and we wish them all the best for the upcoming Worlds. Nevertheless, several days have passed since the official selection was released, and I still struggle to understand the reasons of Daniel Martinez’ exclusion from the Under 23 race. It was really surprising to me: in spite of his young age, Daniel’s season was a crescendo, he learnt a lot, and he was very strong in both Tour of Utah and Tour de l’Avenir lately. He is arguably one of the best and most talented Under 23 riders in Colombia, and I believe he deserved to be in Richmond now, but he will have a long career and many World Championships to make up for it.”