Colombian sprinter set to turn professional in 2016
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Fernando Gaviria (Colombian National Team) wins stage 3 of the Tour de San Luis(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Juliana Gaviria (Colombia) in sprint qualifying.(Image credit: Luis Barbosa)
Cavendish congratulates Gaviria on the podium.(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fernando Gaviria (Colombian National Team) wins stage 3 of the Tour de San Luis(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fernando Gaviria (Colombian National Team) wins stage 3 of the Tour de San Luis(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Etixx-Quick-Step team appears to be the favourite to sign talented young Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria, who recently beat Mark Cavendish to win two stages at the Tour de San Luis.
The Etixx-Quick-Step team moved quickly to open talks with Gaviria's agent Giuseppe Acquadro and Patrick Lefevere seems keen to sign him.
“We've been talking to Etixx-Quick-Step and we hope to finalise an agreement at the track world championships. But we're also in talks with Ag2r-La Mondiale. We'll see what happens,” Acquadro told Cyclingnews.
“Of course a team like Etixx-Quick-Step would be a good team for Fernando. They've got a good record at developing young riders and sprinters like him who ride on the track and on the road. The team also has Rigoberto Uran who can help Fernando. He's still very young and so needs to develop and mature gradually.”
Gaviria showed he can take on and beat some of the best sprinters in the world but any full debut with a WorldTour team is likely to occur in 2016. Before then he is expected to stay with the Colombia-Coldeportes under 23 team in Colombia. He will target the track world championships and then probably ride the Tour de l'Avenir and the under 23 world road race championships in Richmond, in the US. The route is reportedly to suit the sprinters.
In 2014 Gaviria finished second in the points competition at the Tour de l'Avenir after three top ten places on stages. He was 20th in the world road race championships in Ponferrada. He recently won the Omnium at the track World Cup event in London and is now one of the favourites for the world title in Paris.
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Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
