Ivan Sosa may sit atop the general classification at the Tour of the Alps ahead of the likes of Chris Froome, Fabio Aru, and Thibaut Pinot, but that won’t be enough to earn him a place in Androni-Sidermec's line-up for the Giro d'Italia in May.
Sosa finished in third place on stage two of the Tour of the Alps to move into the leader’s fuchsia jersey, climbing with some of the best riders in the world on the summit finish to Alpe di Pampeago.
Aged just 20, Sosa was able to follow attacks by Froome and stage winner Miguel Angel Lopez, eventually finishing in the same time as Lopez to move into the race lead by six seconds ahead of Pinot.
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However despite the young Colombian’s prodigious talent, Androni-Sidermec team manager Gianni Savio says that he will not reconsider his decision to leave Sosa out of the team’s Giro d’Italia line-up.
“It is my final decision and it is in the interest of the rider,” Savio said as he sat alongside Sosa following stage two of the Tour of the Alps.
“I know that as a rider Ivan would do just fine [at the Giro], but my own philosophy and mindset is to discover talents little by little and let them grow little by little. It’s one thing to ride a race such as the Tour of the Alps with great champions like Froome and Aru, but it has just five racing days and the stages are only short.
“It’s another thing to throw a young 20-year-old rider with no international experience into a three week race such as the Giro d’Italia with stages of over 200km.
“I know that he would perhaps like to take part in the Giro, but I want to protect him.”
Savio has built a reputation over the years for developing young Italian and South American riders at his second-divison Androni-Sidermec squad, with riders such as Egan Bernal and Alessandro De Marchi coming through his ranks before moving on to WorldTour teams.
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His breakthrough performance at the Tour of the Alps will surely have Sosa thinking that he could be able to follow a similar course, but Savio says that he needs to take his development one step at a time and that tackling the Giro d’Italia at such a tender age could risk his long term development.
“I did the same with a lot of other young riders that I launched into professional careers,” Savio continued.“I want him to grow little by little and express what he can do with us on the right schedule.
“If Ivan were to participate in the Giro d’Itlaia then it would be a very risky both physically and psychologically. I know him and I know he would go full throttle and that would risk burning out, preventing his correct physical development because he is still very young.”
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