Sevilla reclaims lead as Henao wins stage

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The Indeportes Antioquia team made up for their mistake yesterday that cost Óscar Sevilla the leader’s jersey, as Sevilla and teammate Sergio Luis Henao crossed the line in Bucaramanga shoulder to shoulder to take stage four.

Henao officially won the stage as his wheel crossed the line before Sevilla, but the Spaniard Sevilla reclaimed the leader’s jersey as the two riders embraced on the slight uphill finish to the stage.

GW Shimano’s Félix Cárdenas and EPM-UNE’s Javier González crossed the line 33 seconds later, with González’s teammate Stiber Ortiz out sprinting Néctar De Cundinamarca’s Freddy González for fifth.

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“Today I was really motivated. I’m very happy to win the stage with my teammate, Sergio Luis Henao,” Sevilla said. “He’s young but he’s a great talent.”

Wednesday’s 117 km stage four took the peloton from the sweltering port city of Barrancabermeja on the Magdalena River, through the town’s surrounding lowlands and over three categorized climbs before it finished in the mountainous Bucaramanga.

Early on while the peloton was still tightly bunched together on the outskirts of Barrancabermeja, two GW Shimano riders, Juan Alejandro Garcia and Jaime Suaza, made a break and were able to escape into the mid-morning heat.

However, as the race approached the days first climb, the category three Casa Virgen, they were gobbled up by the peloton, when the Loteria De Boyacá squad began to push the pace for their leader, 2009 Vuelta a Colombia champ Jose Rujano . His teammates, Manuel Medina and Noel Vasquez, did most of the work up the Casa Virgen, dropping many riders including the race leader, EBSA’s Jairo Perez.

The day’s second climb, the category two Caseron de Piedra, was also the toughest. Rujano was keen to show that he still had the spark he had last year, taking point on the climb and pushing the pace.

However the Indeportes Antioquia team showed why they look to be the team to beat this year, as they countered any moves and sent Jannier Acevedo ahead to tease Rujano.

Their move seemed to work as by the time the race descended into they valley where Bucaramanga sits, an elite four man group had formed that did not include Rujano.

Sevilla and Henao, along with Cárdenas and González, made up the break, nine seconds ahead of a ten-man group that included Rujano and Boyacá Orgullo De America leader Freddy Montaña.

The demanding pace up the final climb also created casualties, the most shocking of which was 2008 U-23 road champ and heir apparent in Colombian cycling, Fabio Duarte. By the time the race hit the flat section before the final climb, Duarte was one minute 45 seconds behind Seville’s lead group.

As the lead group hit the day’s final category three climb, Sevilla saw that Cardenas and Gonzalez were suffering and, along with his teammate Henao, made his move.

“In the last kilometer I was surprised because I pushed it and saw that Cárdenas and González were suffering and couldn’t keep up with us,” Sevilla said. “We pushed it full gas to the line.”

Sevilla will wear the leader’s jersey during stage five, but will need to be careful as he shares the same time with Colombia as Passion’s Deliver Opine, who sits in second only thanks to Sevilla’s high finish today.

Indeportes Antioquia holds three of the top five slots with Henao in third, four seconds behind the two leaders, and Jannier Acevedo in fourth, one minute nine seconds back on the leaders. Félix Cárdenas rounds out the top five, one minute 21 seconds behind first place.

Thursday’s stage five will test rider’s legs even more as the peloton hits the real mountains. While the stage is a relatively short 117 km, it takes riders over three categorized climbs including the category one Alto Chiflas, 73km into the stage, before ending in the coffee region town of Socorro.

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