U23 and Junior report: Germán Chavez
At the tender age of just 19, German Enrique Chavez, a young up and coming prospect, has been making stir on the Colombian national circuit with a string of impressive performances!
Chavez, who took up cycling at age 14, first broke into the spotlight at last years’ Vuelta al Porvenir in November, where he won the demanding mountain time-trail going up Alto del Sote in convincing fashion. Chavez went on to finish sixth overall on GC in Vuelta al Porvenir and took second in the KOM competition which not surprisingly, stirred interest among several of Colombia’s biggest domestic squads. In the end, Chavez decided to put his signature with Coldeportes-Claro!
After a few solid displays in the early parts of 2014, where he primarily served as a domestique for his designated team-leaders, Chavez got a call up by Coldeportes-Claro director sportive Oliverio Cárdenas offering him to join his squad for the traditional Vuelta a Colombia running from August 6th till 17th, describing his talented youngster as a future “comet”.
Born on March 9, 1995, Chavez went into Vuelta a Colombia regarded as an outside bet for the overall youth classification, and he didn’t let himself or his advisors down. Chavez showed excellent climbing legs on several key stages and ended the grueling eleven-day event on a very respectable 23rd place (Third in the youth classification) just behind Steven Giraldo and winner and highly yielded pocket-rocket climber Aldemar Reyes from GW-Chaoyang.
With his 1.78 cm and 60 kg frame Chavez, is a good climber who can also produce excellent power on flat, there is little doubt, he possesses the tools to become a factor and do well in the general classification of almost any kind of mountainous stage race. Naturally, his stamina is still unproven at a higher level (read European) however; you can certainly make a case for his pedigree and natural ability!
Next season will be a crucial test for the young Colombian. He will be looking forward to gaining experience and continuing fulfilling his role riding in service of some of his more experienced team-members, a role somewhat similar to another promising jewel within the Colombian squad – Rodrigo Contreras and to a lesser extent talented speedster Fernando Gaviria, who has already proven himself as a winning competitor!
Jakob Lloreda
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