Alvaro Hodeg took over the orange leader’s jersey at the Tour Colombia after winning Wednesday’s second stage in La Ceja.
The 22-year-old Deceuninck-Quick Step sprinter relieved his compatriot Rigoberto Uran of the overall race lead thanks to time bonuses on the stage.
Martin Lass took second in the bunch sprint at the end of the 150.5km stage, with Colombian Sebastian Molano third.
The stage’s big favorite and local hero Fernando Gaviria was nowhere to be seen in the final dash to the line.
“I did not know what happened with Gaviria,” Hodeg said. “In the final kilometers there was a group to the left. We knew that we needed to start there because it was a little dangerous. Jungels went from there and then Alaphilippe at 1km to go before he peeled off for Richeze, who went at 400m and then it was up to me in the final 200m” said Hodeg.
Uran took the race lead on Tuesday when his EF Education First won the opening 14km team time-trial. Uran’s team-mates Daniel Martinez and Lawson Craddock are now second and third overall.
Thursday and Friday’s stages are almost entirely flat street circuits but after Saturday’s hilly route, Sunday’s finale finishes on the steep Alto de Palmas summit.
That is where the overall standings will likely be decided, with a host of Colombian climbers expected to be in the mix, including Uran, last year’s winner Egan Bernal, former Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana champion Nairo Quintana and Miguel Angel Lopez.
Tour Colombia 2019 – stage 2 results (La Ceja – La Ceja):
| 1 | Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 3:21:40 |
| 2 | Martin Laas (Team Illuminate) | ,, |
| 3 | Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 4 | Mihkel Räim (Israel Cycling Academy) | ,, |
| 5 | Maximiliano Richeze (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 6 | Luca Pacioni (Neri Sottoli–Selle Italia–KTM) | ,, |
| 7 | Imerio Cima (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane) | ,, |
| 8 | Paolo Simion (Bardiani CSF) | ,, |
| 9 | Egan Bernal (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 10 | Jonnathan Narvaez (Team Sky) | ,, |
Tour Colombia 2019 – general classification after stage 2:
| 1 | Alvaro Hodeg (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | 3:36:43 |
| 2 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First) | +02” |
| 3 | Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 4 | Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 5 | Maximiliano Richeze (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +10” |
| 6 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 7 | Bob Jungels (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 8 | Jonnathan Narvaez (Team Sky) | +12” |
| 9 | Egan Bernal (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 10 | Ivan Sosa (Team Sky) | ,, |
