On the road from Kielce to Krakow, that is, throughout the entire 1.209-kilometer Tour of Poland, there was only one uphill finish. On stage number three, on the hills of Przemysl Sergio Higuita dances and takes home the stage and the jersey. Leadership then lost in the time trial by Rusinski at the hands of ethan hayter. A good business card for the Colombian, who began his preparation for the Vuelta Espana since winter.
«We have had our sights set on the Vuelta since November with Sergio – says Gasparotto sports director of the Bora Hansgrohe the idea at the beginning of the season was to switch the team from sprinters to climbersWe have done this successfully at Line of Business, carrying three captains, which later became four during the construction. We haven't even brought a single sprinter in the two Grand Tours we've done so far.Initially we were supposed to bring Bennet to the Tour, but the great condition of Vlasov (then fifth final in Paris, ed.) convinced us to bet everything on him."
Announcement coming soon
Bora hasn't announced the team for the Vuelta yet, and the days are counted on one hand. However, based on the working method used in previous stage races, it seems likely that the team is designed entirely around the Colombian climber.
«I can't say anything yet about the team that will be at the Vuelta – continues Gasparotto – but that Higuita will be there is practically out of the questionBesides, we've been targeting this race since the winter. Sergio is Colombian, and we have to consider periods when he works in Colombia and others when he's here racing. We already had three leaders for the Giro and the Tour seemed too demanding, so we set our sights on the VueltaThen, at the beginning of the season, he had expressed his desire to race in the Ardennes. So it seemed natural to us to do so. Also because If you want to do well in the Ardennes, it's difficult to do the same at the Giro.».
A clear path
If you look at the races Higuita has done, you see a clear, clean path. Peppered with periods of intense training, mostly done at his home (some followed by a our correspondent over there) and other racing events, where he achieved excellent results.
"From February to today," Gasparotto continues, "the journey has been clear and precise. He started with the Colombian championship and won, then he went to the Volta Algarve and won a stage. Then he rested for a couple of weeks and went to the Strade Bianche (tenth, ed.) and shortly after he won the CatalunyaThere were some small problems in April and he returned to racing in Liège, his early season goal, and finished fifth. In May he worked hard in Colombia and then returned to Europe to race the Tour of Switzerland and the Tour of Poland. We expect the best from our riders. I can't say I wouldn't have expected this route from HiguitaOur team wants to excel and we give everything to our players to do so."
His climbs
Higuita, at the end of the third stage of the Tour of Poland, he had told us: «These are my slopes, I feel comfortable here, the climb gets harder and harder and you need strength to keep going».
«True – confirms Gasparotto – he would find his climbs at the Giro and the Vuelta: long but with steep gradients. At the Tour, the climbs aren't that tough and don't have very steep gradients, so he suffers from this compared to the others. I've only had him in my team since this year, but I have to admit that Sergio is one of the easiest people to work with.He's very Colombian in his ways, he says, laughing. He never complains. He always has a solution, he doesn't worry too much about things. Let me give you an example: we were at the Tour of Switzerland and his suitcase from Colombia didn't arrive, so he didn't have all the material, he didn't make a faceHe's not one of those people who sees problems even where there aren't any, I think it's a cultural thing, which helps the team a lot."
