The Tour Colombia could return to the country in February 2024. The cycling competition was run with complete success between 2018 and 2020, where elite Colombians such as Egan Bernal, Sergio Higuita, Daniel Martínez, Rigoberto Urán among others, were protagonists on the roads of the national territory, along with world cycling greats.
The race was suspended in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of financing from the National Government, it would return to the UCI calendar for next year. This was confirmed to AS Colombia by Mauricio Vargas, president of the Colombian Cycling Federation, who assured that the private company influenced this to be achieved.
“We continue the work, that is why we request its inclusion in the UCI calendar. We have been working hard on several fronts and with the Government and private companies,” said the leader, who for some months had been making arrangements and working together with the Ministry of Sports.
Although the official route has not been confirmed, the race will take place between February 6 and 11, 2024. Likewise, it will return as a UCI 2.1 category, that is, half of the participating teams may be World Tour (first division ) and 50% will be the Pro Team (second division), in addition to the continental teams and the national teams.
So squads such as INEOS, Jumbo Visma, UAE Team Emirates, Bora, EF Education, among others, could race on the country’s roads.
Previous editions
In the years when the competition was held, great cyclists from the world elite such as Julian Alaphilippe, Christopher Froome, Bob Jungels, Richard Carapaz, Fabio Aru, Maximiliano Richeze, participated in the Tour Colombia or as it was called in the last edition, the Colombia Oro y Paz for sponsorship reasons.
In the first year, the department of Valle del Cauca and the Coffee Region hosted the six stages, in which Egan Bernal took the title over Nairo Quintana and Rigoberto Urán, who completed the podium. In the second edition Miguel Ángel López won over Iván Ramiro Sosa and Daniel Felipe Martínez, while in the third year Sergio Higuita took victory, defeating Martínez and the Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo.
Source: Diario AS