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Teams & Riders Sergio Higuita discussion thread

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Been following him for a while and recent results are a good reason to start a thread about him. We're only two months into this season, but Higuita has been one of the revelations without a doubt. He was supposed to ride with EF Education this season, but some sort of loan construction sees him with Euskadi for at least the first seven months of this year. According to Higuita himself, he was the one who suggested this, and it's save to say the move has paid off.

His progression didn't come out of the blue, as he has been making strides for a while. As an 18 year old, he finished 12th in the highly rated Valle d'Aosta while working for his leaders Hernan Aguirre and Aldemar Reyes. Not too bad. However, especially the latter part of last season is where he saw a rise in his results. Finishing 5th in the Vuelta a Colombia (not exactly a race for kids), and winning a stage in the process, as can be seen in the picture above. This season has been a continuation of his progression, and now he's showing it in Europe as well.

Discuss.
 
When the news about him joining EF reached the forum, I checked his results on procyclingstats. There was some promise but nothing extraordinary. I certainly didn't expect him to reach such a good level so soon against this kind of opposition. And that consistency! He was in the mix in every hilly/mountainous stage/race he rode this year so far.
 
Re:

Anderis said:
When the news about him joining EF reached the forum, I checked his results on procyclingstats. There was some promise but nothing extraordinary. I certainly didn't expect him to reach such a good level so soon against this kind of opposition. And that consistency! He was in the mix in every hilly/mountainous stage/race he rode this year so far.

What did it end with about that? Fake news? Joining later?
 
Re: Re:

RedheadDane said:
Anderis said:
When the news about him joining EF reached the forum, I checked his results on procyclingstats. There was some promise but nothing extraordinary. I certainly didn't expect him to reach such a good level so soon against this kind of opposition. And that consistency! He was in the mix in every hilly/mountainous stage/race he rode this year so far.

What did it end with about that? Fake news? Joining later?
It’s certainly not fake news. He is going to EF, only question is when. From what I’ve understood it’s likely he will ride the Vuelta with them.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
So, he transfers to EF in May, but I assume the Giro isn't in the cards still? Would make more sense to do the spanish calendar in April/May and do the Vuelta later, if any GT at all.

I think that was the initial plan, Spanish races with Euskadi and then move to EF later in the season. But he now debuts on the WT in May as you say, but no Giro. I read on the forum he is slated to do Tour of Cali as his first race with EF.
 
What a Grand Tour debut. Were it not for an unlucky formation of the front group, he could have won his very first Grand Tour stage and taken the leader's jersey.

He really looked very fast in the finish and he also looked to be one of the best on the climb. It's hard not to be reminded of a young Valverde.
 
For anyone who hadn't seen this article it's from Oct about Higuita:

Google says:

Sergio Higuita and his great words towards Alejandro Valverde. The young revelation of Colombian cycling and one of those who stood out internationally, spoke of his expectations and there he dedicated words for Alejandro Valverde.
The 22-year-old paisa is one of the most projected runners in the world squad. Without a doubt, he has tried what he can do and this 2019 was a sweet season for him.
We must confess that Higuita Monster has not been in the Education First team for a year. He arrived in May, after a few months of testing with Euskadi, where he demonstrated enough for Jonathan Vaughters to call him.
And his letter of introduction was the Tour of California, where he was runner-up, behind an out-of-series monster named Tadej Pogacar, but the war was there, in the duel he was present and put the Slovenian in trouble.
Impressive the capacity of Medellín. He then continued on the Tour de Poland, where he met Pavel Sivakov and in a very close definition, Sergio finished fourth overall.
Impeccable presentations that earned him to go to the Tour of Spain and save the race for his team, winning stage 18 in Becerril de la Sierra with authority and alone.
In Vuelta a España he had his first crossing, at a distance, with Alejandro Valverde, with whom he could share the road and be close at some times. He saw how the Spanish was runner-up in the test at 39.
In the classics he could also cross it. There, in Italy, Higuita also demonstrated that he can be a classifier and finished third in the Giro de Emilia and 5th in the Tre Valli Varesine.
With these gold results for a runner of his age, Higuita returned to the country, closed his season and now he will prepare for the next season and at a press conference, he left a few words about Valverde that are interesting:
“I want to be combative in both the laps and the classics. I want to be a Valverde type runner, who has been in the top 10 of the UCI ranking for 15 years, ”said the paisa with admiration.
He focused his goals, not only on winning the Tour of Italy, the Tour of Spain or the Tour de France, but also winning in Liege and Lombardy.
“I am not as tall as Valverde, but I have good speed. I also saw how Valverde pedals, how it works in the lot. Getting to fight a package with him was something very big, ”recalling the stages of the Tour.
Definitely, Valverde represents a lot in Higuita's life and has a mirror to do many things. In addition, he has the ability to do so.
 

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