Hello and welcome cycling fans from all over the world! We're in South America, Colombia to be exact, for the fourth edition of the Colombian Venteaux. Though it was downgraded to C2HC status last year, it's still one of the races the climbers look forward to the most. As they will be the ones to decide who takes the victory!
The profile certainly isn't stereotypical though. First of all, the race is quite short, especially for a classic: Only 137.7 kilometers from Antioquena to Paramo Frontino. But what's certainly unique is that apart from a very steep climb near the end, the profile is almost flat. And lastly, the final, 20+-kilometer climb can be divided into two parts, as the middle of the climb is almost flat, too. We'll have to see if this accounts for a unique style of racing.
Last year's edition certainly had its surprises. Not because of the winner, as it was Suaza who easily took this one home. But behind him, two outsiders joined him on the podium: Andrea Manfredi and Jorge Rujano. Manfredi is now riding in the PCT, so he isn't allowed to defend his second place. But Suaza and Rujano will be here once again!
Favourites
MO
ACC
RES
MO
ACC
RES
Suaza
80
79
76
Panayotov
78
72
76
Pinot
80
69
79
Rodrigues
78
72
74
Kiserlovski
80
66
75
Stancu
78
71
74
Ratiy
80
58
73
Campero
78
71
70
König
79
67
76
Diaz
78
68
73
Costagli
79
67
71
Elissonde
78
66
77
Pomoshnikov
79
66
76
Warbasse
78
65
73
Anacona
79
61
72
Bardet
77
75
70
Atapuma
78
73
72
Cataldo
77
72
75
Medvedev
78
72
77
Parra Bustamente
77
71
74
As expected, all the best climbers from the Continental Tour have joined this race in order to add another chapter to their palmares. And then the first favourite that has to be named is Jaime Suaza. Not only because of last year's victory, but also because he has the most lethal acceleration of the bunch! If the race turns out to be explosive, Suaza has to be the man to beat.
If there will be a more steady pace, his main competitors should become Pinot, Kiserlovski, and perhaps even Ratiy. But just as good at climbing, but as said before, less explosive. Which might raise the question, if they want to beat Suaza, should they try to work together to tire him out?
Riders who probably aren't that focused on winning, but have to ability to surprise on a good day, are König and Pomishnikov. Slightly weaker climbers than the aforementioned ones, but both with a very good resistance stat. This might give them an edge over one or two of the top favourites, and who knows, maybe they can outsmart them?
Costagli and Anacona are the other “79” climbers here who will be keen on a top 5-result. Behind these, there are a few outsiders who will hope the race will go in their favour. Such as Medvedev and Panatoyov, who have shown some overperformances this season already. As well as Atapuma, who has very similiar stats to last year's second place Manfredi, Rodrigues, who could team up with Anacona for an above average result, and Diaz, who could do the same with Ratiy.
Really excited as it's the last really important race for us, Kiserlovski a top favourite, Warbasse ready to disapoint but this is Rujano's mega race day and I expect him to fill the shoes of his teammates, with Baltazar, Hirschlein and Uwi also here this is all in!
Seeing your best climber in the break is kinda worrying, really shows your level in the mountains, then I see the end result and am like WTF!?
No idea how we managed to get a top 10 out of this one, especially as the break got caught and Ahmad Zamri still ended up making up more than a minute on pinot in the final 2.4km's. Really makes me wonder where that ability has been hiding all season/ most of his career tbh.
Colombian Venteaux
