Colombia will use tomorrow's Memorial Marco Pantani to prepare for the World Championships. Miguel Rubiano and Carlos Quintero have both been selected for the Colombian team and will use the race to get ready for the battle for the rainbow jersey.

Saturday September 20th’s Memorial Marco Pantani, in Italy, will be Team Colombia’s final race before leaving to the Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain (September 22-28). The event will not only involve the two riders selected for the élite road race -Carlos Julian Quintero and Miguel Angel Rubiano – but the whole Claudio Corti’s team structure, staff and logistics, in their role as official partners of the Colombian Selecciόn.

The Italian race will be run on a 189,8 km distance, with three ascents to the Montevecchio climb being the biggest difficulties of an event that favoured sprinters several times over the last few seasons.

Sports Director Valerio Tebaldi will field a very similar line-up to the one that took the last two races of the Trittico Lombardo, with Juan Esteban Arango replacing Edward Diaz. Arango will be joined by Robinson Chalapud, Fabio Duarte, Jarlinson Pantano, Carlos Julian Quintero, Miguel Angel Rubiano, Rodolfo Torres and Juan Pablo Valencia.

“It will be the last stop ahead of the Worlds for Carlos and Miguel, and they will be eager to test their condition: Rubiano could come in contention in a reduced sprint, while Quintero recovered after the intestine issues he went through during the week, and will be looking to play his part to support the team,” Sports Director Tebaldi explained.

“All the riders will be committed to try to go for a good result, even on a route which is not that selective, and tune their condition for Il Lombardia, the most prestigious fixture in this final part of the season.”

Memorial Marco Pantani (September 20th, 2014)
Line-up: Juan Esteban Arango, Robinson Chalapud, Fabio Duarte, Jarlinson Pantano, Carlos Julian Quintero, Miguel Angel Rubiano, Rodolfo Torres, Juan Pablo Valencia