The perfect partnership: Gaviria and Richeze reunited at UAE

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In the first week of the 2018 Tour de France, with Fernando Gaviria winning two stages and pulling on the yellow jersey, the famously raucous Colombian support went into overdrive. Away from the chants of 'Ga-vi-ria' outside the QuickStep bus, there was a full-on social media campaign to grant Colombian nationality to his Argentinian lead-out man, Maximiliano Richeze.

Having piloted Gaviria to victory in his very first sprint as a professional in 2016, Richeze had become such a pivotal part of Gaviria's success that the Colombians felt he was one of their own.

Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is a freelance sports writer and editor. He’s an NCTJ-accredited journalist with a bachelor’s degree in modern languages (French and Spanish). Patrick worked full-time at Cyclingnews for eight years between 2015 and 2023, latterly as Deputy Editor.