Sergio Higuita joins EF Education First 

EF Education First Pro Cycling is thrilled to welcome WorldTour newcomer Sergio Higuita to the team. The 21-year-old makes a mid-season transfer to the American outfit from Basque Continental squad Team Euskadi. The Colombian has made an early season splash in Spain and Portugal whenever the road rises. 

“Sergio is quite an exceptional talent,” said EF Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughers. “He’s rarely been off the podium in any race that has an uphill section. We’re pretty excited the UCI allowed us to bring him on board a little early this year!” 

Vaughters began to pursue Higuita following the 2018 Tour of Colombia. Higuita won a stage, the U23 classification and took fifth overall. 

“Quite a few teams were interested in me, but EF Education First were the ones chasing me the most,” Higuita explained. “I chose EF because it’s a team that works together like a family, where exploring the world and seeing the beauty from the bike is most important to them. It’s important to me, too, to be happy on the bike.” 

Higuita was born in Medellín on Aug. 1, 1997 and lined up for his first bike race less than six years later. 

“I started riding because of a teacher at my school,” he explained. “She signed me up to take part in a race when I was five. It was on every year, and I did it all the way up until I was 13 or 14. I used to wait anxiously for the date, and the day before I couldn’t think of anything but the excitement of racing. I never won it, but I came close a few times.”

His interest in pro racing began not too long after he started racing a bike. Higuita would watch the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia on television. He admired Alberto Contador’s style of racing and aimed to emulate it. 

"I used to train with my friends and attack them again and again until I blew up,” he said. “Even now, I’m a very combative racer. I love being in the battle and giving it my all.” 

Manzana Postobón noticed Higuita’s natural talent and his ever-growing passion for the sport. They offered him a contract when he was 17 and brought him to Europe the following season. 

“It was a very special moment,” said Higuita. “Before racing in Europe, I’d only competed at one proper race in Colombia, and I’d found that tough.” 

His first European race was Tour of Asturias. He cramped during the open stage and crawled across the finish line in 92nd place, 23 minutes down on stage one winner and new EF Education First teammate Hugh Carthy. 

“I was a new cyclist, in a new country, and it was difficult,” Higuita noted. “But I was hungry. I said to myself: ‘Tomorrow you’re going to go out and fight for what you’ve always wanted.’ And so I fought to get into the break that day. And I did.” 

Every new objective achieved and milestone reached fueled Higuita’s determination, commitment and happiness. 

“My proudest moments are the ones where I make the people who I love happy with me for who I am,” said Higuita. “When I see them happy, it makes me happy, too. Each time I reach goals or have important results, and I can see that it makes them really proud. That motivates me to continue, to keep going.” 

Higuita’s contract with EF Education First was predicated on the condition that he move from Manzana Postobón, his home for three seasons, to Euskadi for the first half of 2019 to gain more European miles in his legs. 

“All I wanted to do is learn, so it was a great opportunity for me,” said Higuita. 

He understates. He did more than learn. He claimed top ten results, including one victory, in more than half his race days. He finished sixth, fourth and 12th in three of the four Challenge Mallorca races. He claimed the best young rider jersey, in 13th overall, at Volta Valenciana. He was 7th overall, and second on the queen stage, at Andalucia and third at GP Miguel Indurain. He won stage four of Volta Alentejo en route to finishing fifth overall. 

“These races have helped strengthen me physically and the results have given me confidence,” said Higuita. “All of these moments make me happy, that’s most important, and they also get me better known as a cyclist.” 

The results also accelerated his start with the team. A mid-season transfer originally planed for July was moved to May. Higuita will line up for the Amgen Tour of California in argyle. 

“I don’t really have the words to explain my happiness,” Higuita said. “But now I have to keep going. It was hard to get here, but it will be even harder to stay here. I am so excited to debut at the Tour of California. I’m looking forward to working for guys like Rigoberto Uran and Tejay van Garderen. I looked up to them when I was younger. To be able to ride alongside them is a big motivation for me to give my best.”