The Pitalito cyclist, Felipe Morales, became champion of the Vuelta al sur in the Under-23 category after arriving with the peloton in the last stage of the competition, which took place in the center of the capital of Huila. Meanwhile, the athlete from the municipality of Tarqui, William Cerquera, kept the combativeness shirt.
John Sebastian Salazar
The emotions of the Tour of the South 2023 are over! Yesterday in the center of the Huilense capital, the fourth and last stage was run. Unlike previous years, Huila was the protagonist in two of the categories.
brand new champion
The cyclist from Laboy, Felipe Morales, from the Inderhuila team, became champion of the Tour of the South in the Under-23 category. In addition, he was the best from Huila in the general classification, being among the best 15 of the entire competition.
“Very grateful to God first of all for this very important achievement in my sports career. The truth was something that I did not expect, but it is a dream for me to be able to get this title, it is a reward for the effort of years and now it is time to enjoy because the cycling calendar continues ”, indicated Morales in dialogue with LA NACIÓN.
“I want to take the opportunity to thank two people: Professor Jaime and Laura, they have always given me their support, they are the ones who have worked with me to get this degree, they make an effort every day to give us the best tools and this too It’s for them”, complement.
special dedication
On the other hand, the athlete from Pitalito pointed out that this title is dedicated to his father, who unfortunately passed away a few days ago. For Morales, he was his idol because he was the one who helped him in his beginnings in cycling.
“I am living a difficult moment in the family. Sadly I lost my father a few days ago, he was the one who helped me in my beginnings with cycling, so I know that he will be very proud of me, I want to dedicate this victory to him, of course to God who is the one who helps me to continue forward despite all the adversities and I cannot leave out all my family and friends who are always supporting me”, sentenced.
what’s coming
Finally, Felipe Morales will have few hours of rest, because today the Anapoima Classic will begin, a competition that will serve him for his great goal, which is the Youth Tour.
“Well, for now, rest, recover as much as possible because we are going to compete in the Anapoima Classic, a competition that will serve as preparation for the Tour of Youth, which is like my great objective.” concluded.
Balance
Meanwhile, the director of Inderhuila, Mauro Saúl Sánchez Zambrano, indicated that the balance of this 2023 edition of the Tour of the South is more than positive, since a great level could be observed in the four stages that the competition had. In addition, he called for the next government to continue with this initiative.
“The balance is more than positive, we managed to get this competition between two sister departments such as Tolima and Huila. Hopefully the next government will continue with this initiative, it is very gratifying to have a competition of this caliber in our department, hopefully it will have more stages, but the vital thing will be to maintain it, regardless of the person who arrives “. concluded.
more champions
The Vuelta al Sur had its champions in the elite male and female category. On the ladies’ side, Carolina Vargas prevailed after an accumulated time of 10 hours, 32 minutes and 30 seconds.
On the men’s side, Didier Chaparro kept the champion’s yellow jersey, after an accumulated time of 11 hours, 29 minutes and 48 seconds. Andrés Paredes and Cristian Muñoz accompanied him on the podium…
Finally, in addition to Felipe Morales, another Huilense was also the protagonist in the Vuelta al Sur 2023. It is the Tarqui cyclist William Cerquera, who remained the most combative athlete in the competition.
“In the last stages I decided to be on the run, you fight for this shirt and well, fortunately there was the chance to win it, against teams that have a lot of development than us and nothing, happy for the team’s work and happy to be protagonists in this Back to the South”, sentenced the athlete from the municipality of Tarqui.
