:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/A7YJNUR6VJFDHHNEKVMMQFHIQU.jpg "Esteban Chaves made his debut as the national road champion of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes 1")
After his triumph in the National Road Championships 2023 during the long distance event which took place in Bucaramanga on February 5, Esteban Chavez officially launched the jersey which identifies him as a Colombian champion on the road, in a fraction in which he has surpassed names like Daniel Felipe MartinezNairo Quintana oh Sergio Higuita.
The cycling season in Europe has started: these are the races that Colombian cyclists will compete from this Wednesday
Several of the country’s most notable cyclists will take part in different competitions on the old continent and in Asia.
The Education First runner showed up at the start line of the Tour of the Alpes Maritimes and the Var held in France with a white jersey embellished with the colors of the Colombian flag while his team’s logo appears in the background. This garment, designed by the Rapha brand, is what chavito throughout the 2023 season.
However, and although the 33-year-old from Bogotá caught the eye early in the competition, his performance wasn’t the best. In a race with classic hilly terrain, Chaves couldn’t keep up with the leading men. Added to the above, a mechanical problem in the last kilometers deprived him of the possibility of reducing the time on the leaders, so he reached the finish line in 64th place, 1 minute and 7 seconds stage winner and current race leader, Kevin Vauquelin. The best Latin American in the fraction was the Ecuadorian Martín López from Astana, who crossed the finish line in 46th place, 25 seconds behind Vauquelin.
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The Colombian cyclist still does not have a team to participate in the current campaign. His goal is to continue racing in Europe
On Saturday February 18, the second stage of the competition will take place, on a 179.4 kilometer course which will start in Mandelieu and end in La Napoule Antibes. The stage features two mountain prizes, one in the third category and another in the second, the latter located just over 40 kilometers from the finish line. The last part of the fraction will be an extended descent which can determine the winner of the race in advance in the event of significant gaps, before the closing stage on Sunday February 19.
Once his participation in the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes is concluded, Chaves must participate in two more classic races in France, after which he will travel to Spain to race the Tour of the Basque Countrywith whom he has had a very special relationship since 2021. In that year’s edition, the chavito He was the protagonist of stage 4, which ended with the ascent to the top of Erlaitz, a first class pass. One kilometer from the finish, the man from Bogotá launched an attack that was about to give him victory in the fraction, but his forces abandoned him in the last meters and he was overtaken by the rest escapees, so he had to settle for sixth place.
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The Colombian rider remains 48 seconds behind the Slovenian. Tim Wellens ended up with the victory of the day
Note that the current champion of the Tour des Alpes-Maritimes and Var is Nairobi Quintana. The Boyacá native, who will not be able to defend the title as he is currently without a team after terminating his contract with Arkéa-Samsic in September 2022, is trying to appeal the UCI’s decision for his disqualification from the Tour de France 2022 for alleged consumption of tramadol. However, the international cycling governing body remains firm in its position, backed by the Movement for Credible Cycling (MPCC).
The above leaves the chavito as the only Colombian in this competition, which also has the presence of big names from the international team such as Romain Bardet, Thibaut Pinot or Hugh Carty.