Miguel Ángel López begins this Friday his fourth adventure in the Giro d’Italia, a race that is good for him due to the high dose of mountains and few kilometers on the clock, which is why he is one of the candidates for the title, for the podium, even if little is recognized in the world as such.
The boyacense arrives mature, after his time at Movistar, from which he left through the back door, after leaving the Vuelta a España without the consent of his sports directors.
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When cycling believed that it would have few options to sign for another squad, it appeared the Kazakh cast, the one that took him from Colombia to Europe in 2015 and in which he has achieved his best results.
‘Supermán’ López debuted at the Giro in 2018, in a sensational performance, as he was third in the general classification, behind Chris Froome, the champion, and Tom Dumoulin, second overall.
A year later he came back, but it was not even possible to match what he had already done. He punctured twice at the wrong time, fell and grabbed fists with a fan who crossed him and finished in seventh position.
And in 2020, in the first stage he fell and abandoned, so this new opportunity for him is key to knowing where he is.
will be the leader
EL TIEMPO was at the official press conference for the Giro d’Italia with Astana, which was attended by López and the local Vincenzo Nibali. The Colombian spoke little, while the Italian carried the weight of the questions, but both agreed that the man from Boyacá is the best and they are going to work for him.
“Miguel is a great runner. He comes in good shape. He is a serious rider, we already know each other and the idea we have is to help him in the fight for the general”, Nibali said.
28 years old, López did not clash. He affirmed that he felt comfortable in his return to the squad and that Nibali will be one of the men to fulfill his objectives, since he knows the secrets of the Giro.
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“I have already worked with him years ago. He is a great person, a great champion and he has tricks to make a good Giro. I know him well and I’m sure we’ll help each other for the team’s goal of fighting for the general classification”, he specified.
On the route, López was clear and, as always, spoke up front. The race this time will have 3,410 kilometers and six high finishes, of which four will take place in five-star dayswith high mountains.
“It is clear that there is a lot of mountains and damage can be done.”
“I don’t specifically have a special stage. I keep in mind that in a Grand Tour every day counts. One sometimes thinks that the days that are not marked do not go well, they do not define anything and they are the most dangerous, but it is clear that there is a lot of mountains and damage can be done”, he specified.
His goals, for the public, are not well defined, they are not clear, at least in the talk with the press he did not leak them, it was very general.
“We arrived in good condition for the race. The Giro is very hard and we will try to be as close to the podium as possible”, Lopez specified. The clear thing is that if his condition is good, he will fulfill the idea of reaching the podium.
He arrives at the race without eagerness, running the old-fashioned way, not like today, when the team leaders fight for the rankings of the competitions they are going to.
He did not do it, this year he dedicated himself to focusing on getting to the Giro well, as the DT, Stefano Zanini, confessed to EL TIEMPO. “This is how we planned it. In these months we did it like this. The important thing is to arrive at the Giro in good shape”, he said.
López knows that his goal is high, but he also understands that he has the conditions to do it, Well, with this Giro he has already completed 11 three-week races at the starting line.
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Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of THE TIME
@lisandroabel
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