The National Road Championships start in Bucaramanga. The elite, ladies and Sub 23 time trials will be the first competitions that will take place in this edition of the competition. In the elite category, several figures will fight to be national champions, among them the current champion, Daniel Felipe Martínez from Ineos who will try to defend his title and run again with the tricolor.
The starting order of the CRI for riders belonging to UCI teams, national brand teams and riders affiliated with departmental leagues, will be established by the Jury of Commissioners of the Championship in accordance with the current UCI World Ranking and the criteria of the Technical Commission.
In the three categories there will be one-minute intervals between the cyclists’ departure and each one will have different mileage. The ladies’ time trial 26.8 kilometers, the Sub 23, 36 kilometers and the elite, 43.2.
Which figures will run the time trial of the Route Nationals?
All categories will have figures, but the one that will focus attention will be on the elite that will have the participation of Daniel Felipe Martínez, the great favorite and reigning champion. Rigoberto Urán would also take a place in the competition, however, a virus could take him out. The EF cyclist will decide before the start.
In the elite test there will be 22 participants, including three World Tour riders. They are Diego Camargo from Education First and Brandon Rivera and Daniel Martínez, from Ineos Grenadiers.
Miguel Ángel López from Team Medellín and his teammate Walter Vargas will also be there., current Bolivarian champion and another of the favorites who runs in the national peloton, Rodrigo Contreras from Colombia Pact for Sport. Omar Mendoza, from Meta, Julián Cardona from Sistecrédito, Daniel Méndez from EPM and Juan Manuel Barboza from Orgullo Paisa, are other favorites of the test.
Daniel Martínez will start last in the competition at 11:08 in the morning. Miguel Ángel López will do it before, Brandon Rivera will leave at 11:05 and Camargo at 11:02.
In the Sub 23 event, the great figure will be Germán Darío Gómez from GW Shimano Sidermec. Johan Porras from Bogotá, Juan Pablo Sossa from Boyacá and Santiago Ramírez from Orgullo Paisa will also be present. In this category, 40 runners will compete.
And in the women’s event there will be cyclists like Estefanía Herrera from Colombia Pacto por el Deporte, Camila Valbuena from Clarus Merquimia, Erika Botero from Sistecrédito, Ana Cristina Sanabria from Santander, Serika Guluma from Eneicat Team America, Tatiana Dueñas from Clarus, Diana Peñuela from DNA Pro Cycling and Lina Hernández from the Pact for Sport. 18 cyclists will run.
What will the CRI tour be like?
The women’s test will be the first to be held and with which the championships will open. The first runner will leave at 9:15 in the morning from the roundabout of Carrera 30 with Calle 10 and will end at the Alfonso López stadium. The women’s route is 26.8 kilometers and will begin with a descent with several technical parts until reaching kilometer 14 where there will be an ascent until reaching the finish line. The tour is expected to take approximately 42 minutes.
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The Sub 23 will be the second test that will be run in the nationals. This will have the start at 10:03 in the morning and its route is 36 kilometers. One more section is added from Alkosto until reaching the Provence highway and the depressed before reaching the stadium. It is the only thing in which it differs from the female test.
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And the elite test is the one that ends the first day of competitions. It is the most anticipated of the opening day and the one that will define who will wear the national tricolor on the roads throughout the season as Martínez did with Ineos. It is the longest with 42.3 kilometers and will leave at 10:47 in the morning from the same place as the women’s and the Sub 23. It will go to the ring road of the Girón portal and enter the stadium through Turbay Park.
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What comes after the CRI?
The second competition that will take place in the nationals will be the elite women’s event that will take place on Friday, February 3. It will leave at 9 am and finish at 12:30 noon. It will begin and end at the stadium and will be 118.5 kilometers long.
The participants will be the best cyclists in the country, among them the best of the moment, Paula Patiño from Antioquia from Movistar. She will be accompanied by Diana Carolina Peñuela, Natalia Franco, Lina Marcela Hernández, Andrea Alzate, Serika Guluma, Carolina Vargas, Camila Valbuena, Ana Cristina Sanabria and Jessenia Meneses.