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The one and only Álvaro Hodeg thread

Alvaro-Hodeg-en-la-sexta-etapa-de-Tirreno-Adriatico-2021-Deceuninck-Quick-Step.jpg


*Álvaro José Hodeg Chagüi, September 16th 1996 in Montería, Colombia

If a stage win in the Okolo Slovenska doesn't warrant a thread I don't know what does!

Jokes aside, I'm a fan as my subtle hints may have made you guess and think this guy deserves more appreciation than just mine - if not for his sprinting ability (which is pretty great, by they way), then for his super nice character, great smile and Colombian-white teeth.

Today he celebrated his 25th birthday, and so far he won for instance stages in Pologne, Catalunya, Norway, Turkey and Benelux and races like the Sparkassen Münsterland Giro and the Grote Prijs Marcel Kint.
Ever since 2017 he was at DQS, where he started to raise people's hopes that he could become one of the big name sprinters in the peloton with his showings (despite Lefevere not being convinced by his decision making...) before he crashed badly into the barriers at the Tour de l'Eurometropole in '19 and suffered several fractures. Since then things haven't been going too perfectly for him, but recently they look better again. Next year he'll be at UAE. Let's hope Pogacar takes his lead-outs seriously!

About himself: https://www.deceuninck-quickstep.com/en/blog/3389/alvaro-hodeg-from-monteria-to-europe-via-medellin
 
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Lovely that he finally seems to have found his old self back after that nasty crash 2 years ago.

Hopefully he gets his chances next year. Not convinced UAE was the greatest choice. The Tour will be all in for Pogacar. That leaves only 2 other GT's to share between Ackermann, Gaviria and himself.

Also not sure about UAE, not so much because of the GTs, although you are right, the chances aren't high there. In my eyes that would be okay if he did get other good races, especially in the classics. But there are almost more sprinters than leadouts there, and of course none of them is Morkov... Without a good lead-out I'm pretty sure he will suffer. So I hope they will get at least one more lead-out rider. That's why I thought ISN would have been a good option.
But honestly after the time he had I was just glad he signed a two year contract at a good WT team. :grin: And although he speaks good English it might still also be nice to have a few guys who speak Spanish there. Hope it somehow works out...
 
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So, Steimle going for the sprint yesterday was not a team order but a short-term decision when Hodeg was badly positioned and too far back. Steimle says it doesn't matter who's going to win the GC as long as it's someone in the team... well, don't fully agree with that. :grin: Alvaro winning the GC would be awesome. But well, Sagan is still very close.
 
I really thought I had seen him in a suit somewhere, but I absolutely cannot find a pic of that despite having stalked him for hours now. I wonder who on earth I mixed him up with. Oh well. One day he probably will need a suit. We all do :smilecat:

Thank you for looking! Well, as I intend to be tweeting (who knows if I ever do) in the near future I might ask him. :D:D Totally doesn't come across as weird, right? :oops:
 
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