Our team sits now on an impressive 16 top 3 finishes in 2020, just four weeks into the season.
A huge number of fans awaited the Tour Colombia peloton as they stormed through the wide streets of Sogamoso, a stage finish for the first time at South America’s biggest race. Being the sprinters’ penultimate opportunity this week, several teams showed an interest in bringing everything back together in what was a very aggressive stage, which witnessed a plethora of attacks as soon as the bunch exited the neutral zone in Paipa.
Climbers and baroudeurs alike slipped up the road, but the chasers were immediately on their heels and brought the quintet back, before allowing four men to break the elastic after 70 frantic kilometers. However, they weren’t given too much leash and the gap hovered around two minutes, making it a formality for the peloton, who was again as one with ten kilometers to go.
Once again, Deceuninck – Quick-Step showed the quality of their sprint train, controlling the final and shutting down the late attacks, before putting in some flawless piloting for Alvaro Hodeg, who was in the spotlight for the second consecutive day. The 23-year-old Colombian finished in the top 3, just behind Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) and Edwin Avila (Israel Cycling Academy), nabbing his fourth podium of the season and 27th top 3 since turning pro.
Photo credit: ©Maximiliano Blanco / Getty Images
