Iván Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (born 31 October 1997) is a Colombian cyclist, who currently rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

Career

Early life and amateur career

Sosa was born into a farming family in

Pasca Pasca is a town and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca department of Colombia located in the Andes. It belongs to the Sumapaz Province. Pasca is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the capital B ...

, Cundinamarca, a town located at high altitude in the Colombian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, near the capital

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. His father, who is a cycling fan, chose the name Iván for his son after

Iván Parra Iván Ramiro Parra Pinto (born 14 October 1975 in Sogamoso) is a Colombian former road bicycle racer, who competed professionally for Petróleos de Colombia, , , , Cafes Baque, , , and . Parra comes from a Colombian cycling family. His father, H ...

, a Colombian cyclist whom he admired. He is the cousin of professional cyclist Jhojan García, and a close friend of fellow Colombian cyclist

Egan Bernal Egan Arley Bernal Gómez (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian professional cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . In 2019 he won the Tour de France, becoming the first Latin American rider to do so, and the youngest winner since 1909. At the 202 ...

. He left Colombia for Europe in early 2016 to race for the amateur team Maltinti Lampadari-Banca di Cambiano, and settled in

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. His first win for the team came in June, in the 79th edition of the Schio-Ossario del Pasubio race.

Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec

In 2016, Sosa signed a two-year contract with Italian Professional Continental team beginning with the 2017 season. In January 2018, he took his first victory as a professional by winning the 4th stage of the

Vuelta al Táchira The Vuelta ciclista al Táchira (''English'': Tour of Táchira) is a multi-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually each January since 1966 in the state of Táchira (state), Táchira in western Venezuela. The Vuelta al Táchira is part of ...

. 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 The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino () until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

and wore the overall leader's jersey after finishing 3rd on the first two mountain stages, ahead of riders such as

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome, (; born 20 May 1985) is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one Giro d' ...

Thibaut Pinot Thibaut Pinot (born 29 May 1990) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2010 to 2023, spending his entire career with . Once considered one of the most promising talents in French cycling, he finis ...

and

Fabio Aru Fabio Aru (born 3 July 1990) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2012 and 2021 for the , and squads. He hails from San Gavino Monreale in Sardinia, and is known for his climbing ability, which m ...

, but lost his leader's jersey after a crash during a descent on the third stage involving a race motorcycle. Sosa was not a part of the team's planned line-up for the

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

, and team manager

Gianni Savio Gianni Savio (16 April 1948 – 30 December 2024) was an Italian cycling team manager, who was a directeur sportif with the cycling team, a position he held since the team's creation in 1996. Career Savio began his career as a sports director ...

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". Instead he was part of the team's squad at the

Tour of Bihor The Tour of Bihor-Bellotto is a multi-day cycling race in Bihor, Romania established 2016. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union C ...

, a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n 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 , beginning in 2019, with Trek paying Sosa's release clause of €120,000. 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. 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 on a three-year deal.

Team Sky

In May 2019, he was named in the startlist for the

2019 Giro d'Italia The 2019 Giro d'Italia was a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race organised by RCS Sport that took place mainly in Italy, between 11 May and 2 June 2019. The race was the 102nd edition of the Giro d'Italia and was the first Grand Tour of the ...

. In October 2020, he was named in the startlist for the

2020 Vuelta a España The 2020 Vuelta a España was the 75th edition of the Vuelta a España, one of cycling's three grand tours. It was won for the second consecutive year by Primož Roglič of . The race was originally scheduled to be held from 14 August to 6 Se ...

Major results

;2016 : 1st Schio-Ossario del Pasubio ;2017 : 3rd Overall

::1st

Young rider classification : 7th Overall

::1st

Young rider classification ;2018 : 1st Jersey violet

Overall

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos (province), Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In ...

::1st

Mountains classification ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 5 : 1st MaillotCyan

Overall Adriatica Ionica Race ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Sibiu Cycling Tour The Sibiu Cycling Tour (Cycling Tour of Sibiu until 2015) is a 2.1 category professional bicycle road race held in Sibiu, Romania. Its first edition took place in July 2011, as part of the UCI Europe Tour. The race is organised with the support o ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Jersey white

Mountains classification ::1st Jersey orange

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 1 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 2a : 1st Stage 4

: 6th Overall

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir () is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents. Felice Gimondi, Joo ...

::1st Stage 7 : 6th Overall Colombia Oro y Paz : 10th Overall

::1st Stage 4 ;2019 : 1st Jersey violet

Overall

::1st

Mountains classification ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 & 5 : 2nd Overall

Route d'Occitanie The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France. ...

::1st

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 : 2nd Overall

Tour Colombia The Tour Colombia, called earlier Colombia Oro y Paz is a multi-day professional cycling race held annually in Colombia since 2018. It is on the UCI America Tour calendar as a category 2.1 event. Winners See also * Vuelta a Colombia ...

::1st

Mountains classification : 2nd

Gran Piemonte The Giro del Piemonte, since 2009 known also as Gran Piemonte, is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Piedmont region, Italy. The race first took place in 1906. From 2005–2019, the race was organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Eur ...

;2020 : 1st Stage 5

;2021 : 1st Jersey Tour De La Provence Leader

Overall Tour de la Provence ::1st Jersey green

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 ;2022 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a stage race, multiple stage bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily ...

::1st Stage 3 : 1st Jersey cyan

Overall

Vuelta a Asturias Vuelta Asturias is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early May each year. The event was first run in 1925 but has not been held consistently until 1968 to present. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI ...

::1st Stage 2 : 5th Overall

O Gran Camiño O Gran Camiño ''(English: The Great Way)'', also known as Gran Camiño and the International Galician Tour, is a road cycling stage race held in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The race is rated as a category 2.1 eve ...

::1st

Mountains classification : 9th Overall

Deutschland Tour The Deutschland Tour (English: ''Tour of Germany'' and sometimes ''Deutschland-Rundfahrt'' in German) is the most important Race stage, multi-stage road bicycle racing, road bicycle race in Germany. Initially the race was held in May/June, but fro ...

: 10th Overall

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI ...

;2023 : 3rd Overall

: 6th

Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge The Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge is a professional road bicycle racing, cycle road race first held in 2019, which takes place between Vaison-la-Romaine and Mont Ventoux. The event was classified by the UCI as category 1.1 event on the UCI Eu ...

: 8th Overall

;2024 : 4th

Mercan'Tour Classic The Mercan'Tour Classic Alpes-Maritimes is a French single-day road cycling race held in Valberg in the Alpes-Maritimes region of France. The race was supposed to be first held in 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19. It is classified by ...

: 7th Overall

: 9th Overall

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sosa, Ivan 1997 births Living people Colombian male cyclists Cyclists from Cundinamarca Department Vuelta a Asturias winners 21st-century Colombian sportsmen