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Rigoberto Urán, Daniel Martínez and Sergio Higuita are three Colombian cyclists, who are the backbone of the Education First team, a squad that few see, but that has everything to make its rivals suffer and, why not, fight for the Tour title from France.
The Colombian trident brings together the experience and wisdom of Urán; the power and strength to Martinez’s watch, although he lost time on Sunday, and the youth and explosiveness of Higuita, fourth overall, which forces the cycling world to turn its eyes towards them.
It may interest you: (Very good! Higuita, fifth in the second stage of the Tour)
Urán is the captain of the squad. The road technician. At 33, it will be his seventh participation in the most important event in the world. In 2009 he was 50, in 2011 he finished 23, in 2015 he was 42, second in 2017 and he won a stage. He retired in 2018 and last year he ranked seventh.
He is a mature cyclist, who defends himself well on all terrains, he is not an attacker in the mountains, but he climbs well and regained his power in the stages to the clock.
He comes from a strong fall in the 2019 Vuelta a España. This year he has only raced in the Tour Colombia and in the Dauphiné, but without a doubt that with the wisdom and the way to hold the pace of the strongest, Urán can, at some point, reach his rivals and make a good general.
“Here no one is a leader, we are going to go every day to see what happens. We have a team to fight”, Urán said before the start of the Tour and that gives a lot of tranquility, it shows that there is no pressure.
Education First comes to this edition of the Tour with the title of Criterium Dauphiné as its cover letter, competition in which Martínez showed off his best conditions, took advantage of his excellent moment and in an intelligent way of running he won the victory at the end, a triumph that some have downplayed because it was achieved without big stars like Egan Bernal and Primoz Roglic, who retired.
No matter what happened, Martínez comes to this Tour with wings on his shirt. He is a 24-year-old cyclist, who despite his young age already has four major events behind him: Giro d’Italia of 2016 and 2017, the 2018 Tour, when it occupied position 38, and the Vuelta a España last year.
He measures 1.72 meters, weighs 63 kilos and this 2020 has been round for him. He won the time trial of the Road Nationals, he was third in the long-distance competition and achieved second place in the Tour Colombia, behind Higuita, and with a partial victory included, but yesterday a fall took its toll and he lost more than three minutes.
Martínez did not have them all with him this Sunday, he fell and although he connected, when the group tightened the pace he lost the wheel and he is already more than three minutes away in the general, so his plans change, and he can play it in search of a partial victory and help Higuita and Urán.
Daniel Martínez, Dauphiné champion.
Higuita, meanwhile, makes his debut on the Tour. It was already 14 in the Tour of Spain last year, a competition in which she won a stage victory. The 23-year-old cyclist has earned a place in the giants lot. This year has been special. He was crowned national champion of the route, won the Tour Colombia and was third in the Paris-Nice behind the German Maximilian Schachmaan and Tiesj Benoot, first and second, respectively.
It measures 1.66 meters, weighs 57 kilos, but regardless of this, in Paris-Nice He showed he has the strength in his legs to fight for a spot in the lot, when crosswinds appear and fans rage.
He came to Dauphiné as one of the team’s featured cards, but suffered a fall That diminished him and kept him from fighting for the top positions. He dedicated himself to rolling, to doing kilometers and hopes in this Tour to consecrate himself. The rider got into the packaging on Sunday, he was fifth and fourth in the general classification.
Both Martínez and Higuita, according to the circumstances of the competition, they can get to fight the best young man on the Tour, a title that they would not dislike.
It may interest you: (Classifications of the Tour de France, after the second stage)
Urán, Martínez and Higuita will be under the direction of Spanish coach Juan Manuel Gárate, who knows them by heart, trusts them and knows that with the Colombian trident they can aspire to win a Tour de France, which looks more open than ever.
Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@lisandroabel
