The Colombian team for the World Championships in Austria has been revealed, and it includes some of the strongest climbers in the peloton.
Movistar’s Nairo Quintana will join Vuelta a España rivals Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First- Drapac) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) to tackle the gradients of Innsbruck later this month.
Also riding in the Colombian colours will be Team Sky’s Sergio Luis Henao and cousin Sebastián.
The eight-man squad will do battle on the Austrian slopes against the likes of Simon and Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), who headline the British squad.
>>>UCI Road World Championships 2018: dates, route, where to watch and more
Lopez, Urán and Quintana are currently fighting for position in the top-ten of the Vuelta a España, but will joined forces for the elite men’s road race on September 30.
Big Colombian names missing from the squad are Team Sky’s promising youngster Egan Bernal and Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott).
Tour of California winner Bernal suffered gruesome facial injuries after a crash in the Clasica Ciclista San Sebastian last month.
Chaves was forced to skip this year’s Vuelta after being diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Virus.
The remaining places on the Colombian squad are taken by Daniel Martinez from EF Education First-Drapac, Movistar’s Winner Anacona and Rodrigo Contreras (EPM).
Quintana may appear the favourite from the Colombian team as the only rider to have won a Grand Tour, but the pure climber has struggled to find previous form this season.
The 28-year-old has struggled to hold the wheel of rivals in Spain and has dropped off the podium.
Lopez is currently the best placed on the Vuelta general classification in fourth, followed by Quintana in sixth and Uran in eighth.
Colombian teams for World Championships 2018
Elite men’s road race
Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
Rigoberto Urán (EF Education First-Drapac)
Miguel Ángel López (Astana)
Sergio Luis Henao (Team Sky)
Daniel Felipe Martínez (EF Education First- Drapac)
Sebastián Henao (Team Sky)
Winner Anacona (Movistar)
Rodrigo Contreras (EPM).
Elite women’s road race
Ana Cristina Sanabria (Swapit Agolico)
Paula Andrea Patiño (UCI World Cycling Centre)
Liliana Moreno (Astana Women’s Team).
Under-23 men’s road race
Iván Ramiro Sosa (Androni Sidermec)
Alejandro Osorio (GW Shimano)
Wilmar Andrés Paredes (Manzana Postobon Team)
Einer Rubio Reyes (Vejus Italia)
Miguel Eduardo Flórez (Willier Selle Italia).
