Sosa wins Vuelta a Burgos

Ivan Sosa (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) snatched overall victory at the Vuelta a Burgos from compatriot and overnight leader Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) after an impressive late attack that secured the young Colombian the stage victory on the summit finish of Lagunas de Neila. and the final purple winner’s jersey.

Sosa attacked his rivals with a late burst of speed inside the final kilometre, going on to beat runner-up Lopez by 19 seconds. Sergio Pardilla (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) put in a strong attack but was ultimately caught by Sosa and Lopez, and finished third on the day.

Sosa ended up sealing the title by 17 seconds over Lopez and 53 seconds ahead of David de la Cruz (Sky). Sosa also won the mountain jersey and the best young rider jersey, while Lopez won the points competition.

How it unfolded

The final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos was decisive for the overall classification as the 140.9km race because of the finish on the summit of Lagunas De Neila, a steep 10km climb to the finish line.

Along the way, riders contested a trio of category 3 climbs at Alto San Cuero (56km), Alto del Cerro (86km), Alto del Collado del Vilviestre (118km) before the final climb to Lagunas De Neila. There were also three intermediate sprints at Arauzo de Miel (74km), Hontoria del Pinar (103km) and Quintanar de la Sierra (129km).

A breakaway of 14 riders set off 25km into the stage but was quickly snuffed out before the peloton reached the first ascent of the day. A new breakaway formed over the top of Alto San Cuero that included Jaime Castrillo (Movistar), Johann Van Zyl and Ben King (Dimension Data), Diego Rosa (Team Sky), Angel Madrazo Ruiz and Lucas De Rossi (Delko Marseille Provence KTM), Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie), Garikoitz Bravo Oiarbide (Euskadi Basque Country) and Diego Rubio (BurgosBH).

Those riders were later joined by José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar), Nicola Bagioli (Nippo Vini-Fantini) and Pablo Torres (BurgosBH) to form an 11-man breakaway, and they gained over a minute on the main field.

The gap pushed out to a maximum of two minutes but they lost much of that time as they reached the base of the final climb. The breakaway split apart on the early ascent, as King and Madrazo pushed ahead, hanging on to a slim 42 seconds. There were still close to 10km of difficult climbing, and with a select group chasing that included leader Lopez and Sosa, separated by two seconds on GC, that meant their breakaway efforts would inevitably come to an end before the finish line.

As the race heated up on the slopes to Lagunas De Neila, a group of select climbers distanced themselves that included Igor Anton (Dimension Data), Serio Pardilla (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Sebastian Henao (Team Sky), Filippo Zaccanti (Nippo Vini-Fantini) and Delio Fernandez Cruz (Delko Marseille Provence KTM).

Pardilla was the first to attack that group with just over two kilometres to the summit, while Anton tried desperately to close down the gap from behind. Anton was soon joined by David De La Cruz (Team Sky) and later Lopez and Sosa, where the battle ensued for the overall title and stage glory.

Sosa launched an attack that Lopez just couldn't follow; gaining the two seconds he needed to surpass his compatriot in the overall classification. He then caught and passed Pardilla less than 400 metres to the line and stormed up the final slopes finishing 19 seconds ahead of Lopez and 21 ahead of Pardilla, who managed to hang on for third.

Sosa will only turn 21 on October but is already being tipped as Colombia’s next great find. He has given Gianni Savio’s Androni Giocattoli a prestigious victory at the Vuelta a Burgos before riding the Tour de L’Avenir with the Colombian national team and an expected move to Trek-Segafredo in 2019.

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