Challenging day out on the bike at Tour Colombia

Race: Tour Colombia – Stage 3

Start/Finish: Paipa/Sogamosa, Colombia

Distance: 177.7 kilometers

Oliver Behringer (SUI)

It’s immediately clear the benefit the local Colombians have for living at this altitude. To them, today felt like a normal ride. For us, we immediately feel how high we are when we try to put in an effort. We’ve been here a little over a week, and it takes several weeks for the body to truly adjust. We know that if we go too deep on a single stage, it will significantly impact recovery, so it is all about managing ourselves while our bodies continue to adjust.

Pavel Cherkasov – Sport Director

Today was incredibly hard immediately from the start. It began full gas and groups started to form fairly quickly. Halfway through the day, the peloton was splintered with a few small groups chasing with our riders behind the main bunch.

It is apparent that we are still adjusting back to racing and it is early season. You can tell the altitude still has an impact and it was a challenging day out on the bike.

Next Up:

On Friday, the world’s first all-diabetes professional cycling team will continue to show what’s possible with diabetes on Stage 4 at the Tour Colombia with a 169-km race that starts in Paipa and finishes in Santa Rosa de Viterbo.

Photos: ©BettiniPhotos