Tour of Colombia: Contreras secures overall as Restrepo wins final sprint

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Cheered on by huge crowds in Bogotá, Jhonatan Restrepo (Colombia) won the final Tour of Colombia stage in a sprint victory from an elite group ahead of Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Colombian champion Alejandro Osorio (GW Erco Shimano) was third.

Crossing the line in eighth place, with the same time, Rodrigo Contreras (Nu Colombia) resisted all attacks and secured the overall victory.

The battle for the overall victory heated up on the slope of the 3,000m-high Alto de Patios, inside of 15 kilometres to go. The EF team came to the front of an elite group to put pressure on Contreras for Carapaz, who had reduced his overnight deficit to 12 seconds by taking bonus seconds in the intermediate sprint.

Launched by his teammate Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, Carapaz put in an acceleration that no one could match and quickly established a 10-second gap on the chasers.

But the Ecuadorian could not keep the chasers away on the final drop into the capital and dash the finish line outside the city’s national park. As a few more riders joined, the front group swelled to 13 riders jostling for the final sprint. 

In the final kilometres, the Colombian National team lined up at the front going all in for Restrepo. Carapaz launched his sprint early but was no match for Restrepo who had received a phenomenal leadout from Egan Bernal. 

"It was a very difficult day, because we went very fast and the WorldTour teams wanted to eliminate me. I managed to control the situation with the help of a sensational team, above all the work of Daniel Muñoz, who made sure Carapaz didn’t stay away," Contreras said.

"When Carapaz attacked, I didn’t lose hope. There was a moment where I was struggling but I followed my rhythm and got back up to him little by little. We’re so happy to bring this title home in Bogotá. We started today with the expectation of defending the jersey. We were certain we were a good team."

Contreras won the overall with a lead of six seconds on second place Carapaz. Jonathan Caicedo (Petrolike) finished third, a further 20 seconds down.

How it unfolded

The climb of the Alto del Vino had always promised to be the pivotal of this Tour Colombia, but the time gaps at the summit were far from decisive. Although Rodrigo Contreras (Nu Colombia) did enough to retain the yellow jersey, his 17-second lead over Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) guaranteed frissons on the short but sharp final stage to Bogotá.

Carapaz underlined his intentions for the afternoon by winning the first intermediate sprint and then picking up another bonus at the second intermediate sprint in Choconta, where he placed third behind the Astana-Qazaqstan duo of Alexey Lutsenko and Harold Tejada. From that moment on, it was clear that Contreras and his Nu Colombia squad had a battle on their hands to retain the overall lead.

The race would ignite still further on the day’s second climb of the Alto del Sisga, where Egan Bernal (Colombia) surprisingly sprang onto the offensive. Bernal, who hails from nearby Zipaquirá, knew the ascent better than most, but this was not a mere show for the Cundinamarca fans lining the roadside. Joined by Javier Jamaica (Medellín), Bernal built up a lead of 45 seconds over the top, moving close to the virtual race lead.

That was enough to persuade EF to join Nu Colombia in the pace-making duties at the head of the peloton, though Bernal and Jamaica still held a buffer of 30 seconds as they entered the final 50km and barrelled south towards Bogotá and the Alto del Patios. After a fierce chase, Bernal and Jamaica would be caught just before the third intermediate sprint, where Carapaz led Contreras across the line, shaving another second off his advantage, reducing it to 12 seconds ahead of the final ascent.

From there, the race looked destined to come down to a final joust on the Alto de Patios, with the summit just 11km from the finish line, though the severely reduced peloton was also an unruly one, with many attackers, including Lutsenko, trying their luck ahead of the finale.

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