Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Iván Sosa

Iván Sosa
Personal information
Full nameIván Ramiro Sosa Cuervo
Born (1997-10-31) 31 October 1997 (age 27)
Pasca, Colombia
Team information
Current teamMovistar Team
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimber
Amateur team
2016Maltinti Lampadari–Banca di Cambiano
Professional teams
2017–2018Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec[1][2]
2019–2021Team Sky[3][4][5]
2022–Movistar Team
Major wins
Stage races
Vuelta a Burgos (2018, 2019)
Tour de la Provence (2021)
Tour de Langkawi (2022)

Iván Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (born 31 October 1997) is a Colombian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Movistar Team.

Career

Early life and amateur career

Sosa was born into a farming family in Pasca, Cundinamarca, a town located at high altitude in the Colombian Andes, near the capital Bogotá.[2] His father, who is a cycling fan, chose the name Iván for his son after Iván Parra, a Colombian cyclist whom he admired.[6] He is the cousin of professional cyclist Jhojan García,[2] and a close friend of fellow Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal.[7] He left Colombia for Europe in early 2016 to race for the amateur team Maltinti Lampadari-Banca di Cambiano, and settled in Empoli, Italy. His first win for the team came in June, in the 79th edition of the Schio-Ossario del Pasubio race.[8]

Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec

In 2016, Sosa signed a two-year contract with Italian Professional Continental team Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec beginning with the 2017 season.[7]

In January 2018, he took his first victory as a professional by winning the 4th stage of the Vuelta al Táchira. His real breakthrough came the following month though, when he finished an impressing 6th overall in the inaugural edition of the Colombian stage race Colombia Oro y Paz. In April, he was part of the team's line-up for the Tour of the Alps and wore the overall leader's jersey after finishing 3rd on the first two mountain stages, ahead of riders such as Chris Froome, Thibaut Pinot and Fabio Aru,[9] but lost his leader's jersey after a crash during a descent on the third stage involving a race motorcycle.[10]

Sosa was not a part of the team's planned line-up for the Giro d'Italia, and team manager Gianni Savio stated that Sosa's impressive performance at the Tour of the Alps had not made him reconsider his decision, despite Sosa "perhaps wanting to take part in the Giro". He explained his decision by saying his philosophy is to discover talents and let them develop little by little, continuing "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 200 km".[11] Instead he was part of the team's squad at the Tour of Bihor, a Romanian stage race, in early June, where he won the overall classification as well as one stage. Later the same month, he won the overall classification at the inaugural Adriatica Ionica Race, an Italian stage race, as well as one stage.

World Tour contract dispute

Sosa initially signed a two-year contract with Trek–Segafredo, beginning in 2019,[12] with Trek paying Sosa's release clause of €120,000.[13] However after an initial press release from the team, as well as a video published from Sosa, a dispute between Alberati Fondriest Cycling Academy (Sosa's initial representation) and well-connected rider agent Giuseppe Acquadro occurred.[13] Acquadro took over representation of Sosa, informing Trek that he would not be riding for the team. Androni reimbursed Trek for the release clause and in late November 2018, Cyclingnews.com announced that Sosa would sign for Team Sky on a three-year deal.[13]

Team Sky

In May 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Giro d'Italia.[14] In October 2020, he was named in the startlist for the 2020 Vuelta a España.[15]

Major results

2016
1st Schio-Ossario del Pasubio
2017
3rd Overall Tour of Bihor
1st Young rider classification
7th Overall Vuelta al Táchira
1st Young rider classification
2018
1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos
1st Mountains classification
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 5
1st Overall Adriatica Ionica Race
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 3
1st Overall Sibiu Cycling Tour
1st Points classification
1st Mountains classification
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 1
1st Overall Tour of Bihor
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 2a
1st Stage 4 Vuelta al Táchira
6th Overall Tour de l'Avenir
1st Stage 7
6th Overall Colombia Oro y Paz
10th Overall Vuelta al Táchira
1st Stage 4
2019
1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos
1st Mountains classification
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 3 & 5
2nd Overall Route d'Occitanie
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 3
2nd Overall Tour Colombia
1st Mountains classification
2nd Gran Piemonte
2020
1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Burgos
2021
1st Overall Tour de la Provence
1st Young rider classification
1st Stage 3
2022
1st Overall Tour de Langkawi
1st Stage 3
1st Overall Vuelta a Asturias
1st Stage 2
5th Overall O Gran Camiño
1st Mountains classification
9th Overall Deutschland Tour
10th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
2023
3rd Overall Vuelta a Asturias
6th Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge
8th Overall Route d'Occitanie
2024
4th Mercan'Tour Classic
7th Overall Tour Colombia
9th Overall Tour of the Alps

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2019 2020 2021 2022
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia 44 49
A yellow jersey Tour de France
A red jersey Vuelta a España 62

References

  1. ^ "Fatta l'Androni Sidermec per il 2018: è Bisolti l'ultimo rinforzo" [Androni Sidermec complete for 2018: Bisolti is the last reinforcement]. Cicloweb.it (in Italian). Cicloweb. 28 November 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Hurtado, Jheyner A. Durango. "Sosa, rutero que fabrica su futuro en Europa". www.elcolombiano.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2018-08-14.
  3. ^ "Team Sky". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Team Ineos". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Ineos Grenadiers". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Iván Sosa, el ciclista de Pasca que brilla en las carreteras europeas | ELESPECTADOR.COM". ELESPECTADOR.COM (in Spanish). 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  7. ^ a b "Savio finds another young talent as Sosa leads Tour of the Alps | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  8. ^ "Iván Ramiro Sosa: Brillante triunfo en Italia". www.revistamundociclistico.com (in European Spanish). 26 June 2016. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  9. ^ "Savio finds another young talent as Sosa leads Tour of the Alps | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  10. ^ "Sosa loses Tour of the Alps lead after stage 3 crash | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  11. ^ "Androni-Sidermec team boss explains why Ivan Sosa won't be selected for the Giro d'Italia - Cycling Weekly". Cycling Weekly. 2018-04-17. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  12. ^ "Sosa to step up to WorldTour with Trek-Segafredo". Cyclingnews.com. 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2018-08-27.
  13. ^ a b c "Ivan Sosa signs three-year deal with Team Sky and could ride 2019 Giro d'Italia - Cyclingnews.com". 26 November 2018.
  14. ^ "2019: 102nd Giro d'Italia: Start List". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  15. ^ "75th La Vuelta ciclista a España: Startlist". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 19 October 2020.