Iván Sosa

Iván Sosa
Personal information
Full name	Iván Ramiro Sosa Cuervo
Born	31 October 1997 (age 27); Pasca, Colombia
Team information
Current team	Movistar Team
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Amateur team
2016	Maltinti Lampadari–Banca di Cambiano
Professional teams
2017–2018	Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec
2019–2021	Team Sky
2022–	Movistar Team
Major wins
	Stage races Vuelta a Burgos (2018, 2019) Tour de la Provence (2021) Tour de Langkawi (2022)

Iván Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (born 31 October 1997) is a Colombian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Movistar Team.

Career

Early life and amateur career

Sosa was born into a farming family in Pasca, Cundinamarca, a town located at high altitude in the Colombian Andes, near the capital Bogotá.^[2] His father, who is a cycling fan, chose the name Iván for his son after Iván Parra, a Colombian cyclist whom he admired.^[6] He is the cousin of professional cyclist Jhojan García,^[2] and a close friend of fellow Colombian cyclist Egan Bernal.^[7] He left Colombia for Europe in early 2016 to race for the amateur team Maltinti Lampadari-Banca di Cambiano, and settled in Empoli, Italy. His first win for the team came in June, in the 79th edition of the Schio-Ossario del Pasubio race.^[8]

Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec

In 2016, Sosa signed a two-year contract with Italian Professional Continental team Androni Giocattoli–Sidermec beginning with the 2017 season.^[7]

In January 2018, he took his first victory as a professional by winning the 4th stage of the Vuelta al Táchira. 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 and wore the overall leader's jersey after finishing 3rd on the first two mountain stages, ahead of riders such as Chris Froome, Thibaut Pinot and Fabio Aru,^[9] but lost his leader's jersey after a crash during a descent on the third stage involving a race motorcycle.^[10]

Sosa was not a part of the team's planned line-up for the Giro d'Italia, and team manager Gianni Savio 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".^[11] Instead he was part of the team's squad at the Tour of Bihor, a Romanian 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 Trek–Segafredo, beginning in 2019,^[12] with Trek paying Sosa's release clause of €120,000.^[13] 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.^[13] 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 Team Sky on a three-year deal.^[13]

Team Sky

In May 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Giro d'Italia.^[14] In October 2020, he was named in the startlist for the 2020 Vuelta a España.^[15]