ICE, WOOD AND TAR. He took up sports as young child with ice skating, which he practised until age 12; later on, supported by his parents, Carmen and Hernando -his dad was actually his first coach-, he made his way into the velodromes, where, together with the Colombian national team, became a junior world champion (2021), conquering gold and rainbow in Invercargill (New Zealand) in the Madison race with Jordan Parra. From there, and having obtained South American and Caribbean elite titles, he briefly combined track and road, before taking the official step towards no less than the World Tour, at 22 years old, with Quick Step.
ABSOLUTE WORLD CLASS. At the organisation managed by Patrick Lefévère, Gaviria obtained the best results so far in his career: two stages in the Tour de France (2018), where he wore the yellow jersey; five wins in the Giro d’Italia, also including the Maglia Ciclamino as best sprinter (2017); prestigious events such as Paris-Tours (2016); and several other victories in the Americas (San Juan, Colombia 2.1, California) and Asia (Guangxi), to which he would later add, as he signed for the Emirates team in 2019, a couple of stages in UAE.
FINDING BACK HEALTH. The damned covid, which affected him several times, was the biggest factor for Gaviria in recent years, unable to show his real colours with UAE. Despite that -and this is a big guarantee for the Movistar Team-, he has never produced a winless season: he claimed victories in Burgos, Limousin and Toscana right after the pandemic stop in 2020; notched up a stage win in Poland in 2021; and won two sprints in Oman in 2022, his latest victories before putting on the Blue jersey and aiming at recovering that brilliance he’s always shown.
