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Richard Carapaz raced to glory and a solo victory on the queen stage of the Tour Colombia, rounding off an attacking display from his EF Education-EasyPost team on the 30km Alto del Vino.
Along with teammate Esteban Chaves, the Ecuadorian attacked several times on the closing ascent as his team made use of their strength in number among the elite lead group of contenders.
Eventually, he made his attacks tell as he pulled clear of his competitors with 5km to run. Behind him, Jonathan Caicedo (Petrolike) and race leader Rodrigo Contreras (Nu Colombia) led the chase and trailed in for second and third places, with Contreras successfully defending the yellow jersey in the process.
Behind them, Egan Bernal (Colombia), Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost), Iván Sosa (Movistar), and Chaves rounded out the top seven on a day where the biggest hitters in the peloton came out to play.
“We knew the climb and how hard it is. We had to follow the other teams at the start. but we knew in the last 10km, we would reach the decisive phase and we started attacking. I was able to make the decisive attack and go to the finish,” Carapaz said.
“We knew we had lots of options, with Chaves, Rigo and Cepeda. We’re all climbers, and we could all try if we felt good. At the start of the climb, we talked again. We were all going well, so we said we’d just do what we could to try to win.”
“The last 300m were the hardest. I knew them and I knew how hard they were, but I still enjoyed it totally. It was important for me to get the win today.”
How it unfolded
Leaden clouds and chill air greeted the Tour Colombia caravan as it gathered in Cota for the start of stage 5, and rain was soon falling steadily over the altopiano around Zipaquirá. By the time the race got underway, however, the rain had abated, and the sun had burned its way through the cloud.
In this corner of the world, where the weather is typically as variable as a summer afternoon in Galway, it always helps to be prepared for all conditions. With that in mind, Movistar dispatched the retired Alejandro Valverde – here in Colombia in an ambassadorial role – ahead of the race to ride up the final, 30km haul of the Alto del Vino and provide an idea of the latest conditions for Nairo Quintana.
The penultimate stage of the Tour Colombia was all about the Alto del Vino. The peloton tackled it from it from its gentler, southern approach early in the stage for a category 3 ascent before turning and climbing back up its hors categorié northern slopes for the stage finish.
The mountainside formed a natural amphitheatre, creating an atmosphere akin to a football stadium atop the climb. Indeed, that fervour was evident all along the route. Cycling’s equivalent of La Bombonera stretched from Cota to El Rosal, from La Vega to Villeta. It was hard to argue with the assertion of Colombia’s first maillot jaune Victor Hugo Peña at the start: “This is our Tour de France.”
There was a flurry of early attacking before the break of the day took shape on the first ascent of the Alto del Vino. It was notable that Quintana had a Movistar teammate aboard. Brazilian Vinicius Rangel, who spent much of the week pacing the peloton, was now out in front with Bernardo Suaza (Petrolike), Wilmar Paredes (Team Medellín), Rait Arm (Estonia), Brandon Rojas (GW Erco Shimano), Franklin Archibold (Panama) and Alexis Quinteros (Banco Guayaquil) for company.
They had 1:40 in hand atop the climb, and that gap expanded rapidly on the long, long descent to Villeta, reaching a maximum of 6:30 before the Nu Colombia team of race leader Rodrigo Contreras began to whittle down the advantage. By the time the septet reached the foot of the 30km climb to the line, the gap was down to 4:44 and the intensity in the peloton was rising accordingly.
Nu Colombia led on the lower slopes of the ascent, but there was a statement of intent from Egan Bernal after five miles or so of climbing, with the Colombian national team joining the yellow jersey’s team at the head of a pared-down peloton. Out ahead, the break had begun to fragment, and the favourites closed to within three minutes as they entered the final 20km.
Before long, the breakaway was done, with the big names hitting the front and setting a hard pace on the steady but unrelenting gradient towards the top. Riders fell off the rear of the ever-diminishing group in dribs and drabs, ones and twos, before a select group of top contenders were left at the head of the race.
Among them were big names including Tour de France champion Bernal, the EF Education-EasyPost group of Carapaz, Chaves and Urán, Sosa, and Continental competitors including Caicedo plus Contreras and his teammate Daniel Mendez.
The attacking came thick and fast from that point on, with EF in particular active off the front with Chaves and Carapaz accelerating and then countering as each were brought back.
Chaves went at 13.5km, then Carapaz a kilometre later, drawing out Contreras. Chaves made it three up front with 10km to go before Contreras immediately countered, matched in turn by Carapaz.
Next, it was Caicedo’s turn to get across the gap and make it three up front. By the 7km mark, it was all coming back together as Bernal, Chaves, Urán, and Sosa got back on.
The next big moves came courtesy of Carapaz, putting into place the endgame of EF’s plan with stinging moves at 6km and 5km from the finish. The second one proved to be the most successful of the day, putting clear air between him and the rest as Caicedo and Contreras led the resistance behind.
Neither could prevent Carapaz from riding away to the stage victory, however, as the 30-year-old recorded the 21st win of his career. The duo did limit their losses, though, ensuring Contreras would carry the race lead into Sunday’s closer in Bogotá.
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