Tour Colombia 2024: meet the kamikazes, the great duel of the last 200 meters

He Tour of San Luis 2015 disputed the first stage. Argentina had been full of stars and Mark Cavendish was the main favorite to win the opening day in Villa Mercedes.

All his colleagues worked for him, but from one moment to the next a runner who was dressed in white and had the Colombian flag from top to bottom on his uniform exploded: it was Fernando gaviriawho surprisingly overtook him and won the stage.
(Neither Cristiano Ronaldo nor Messi: Romario says that there were only two players better than him)(Egan Bernal showed his face: clearly and bluntly, the option of winning the Colombia Tour)

First face to face

Two days later, Gaviria once again beat the runner born on the Isle of Man, making himself known. It was there where the great story of Gaviria began, the same one that has faded away in recent years.

Gaviria, today a Movistar cyclist, once again faces Cavendish, a rider from the Astana team, on South American lands, this time in the Tour Colombia, which will have the first stage this Tuesday, ideal for the two kamikazes to relive old rivalries.

The day between Paipa and Duitamawhich will be 155 kilometers after several journeys along the roads of Boyacá, will have maximum attention at the end, at the time of packing and there should be Cavendish and Gaviria, the two speed colossi in this race.

Gaviria is 29 years old, his record includes 51 victories, including five stages and regularity champion in the Giro d'Italia 2017.

The Colombian runner has won two days in the Tour de France and he was a leader, but after an impressive explosion in his first years in Europe, he has not been able to be the same as before.

went to the team UAE Emirates and he won little. He Movistar He extended his hand to him last year and he has not raised his head either and they hope that he will do so this year.

Cavendish is another story entirely. At 38 years old, he is competing in his last season as a cyclist after being convinced that he could beat the record of Eddy Merckx of being the rider with the highest number of stages won in the Tour de France, after being tied at 34 wins.

The Briton has an enviable track record, which leads him to be considered one of the most important packers in the history of world cycling.

personal brand

He has won 34 stages in the Tour, 17 in the Giro d'Italia and three in the Vuelta a España. She has the 2011 world road title in her backpack and has even been a medalist in the Olympic Games, since she won silver in the omnium.

Both different. Gaviria has the ability to start from afar, although he has also won head-to-head and close to the goal. Cavendish is a rider who likes to wait for the last part of the stage to launch his fierce attack.

The Colombia Tour has the privilege of having Cavendish, who visits Colombia for the first time and who has an 'account receivable' from Gaviria, this time not in Argentina, but in Colombia, his own land in which defeating him would be removing the nail from the surprise of 2015.

Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@lisandroabel