The headlines and admiration for Fernando Gaviria's sprinting skills have multiplied with each of his stage victories at the Giro d'Italia.
His first win in Cagliari came after a Quick-Step Floors masterclass in echelon riding. His second in Messina was a dominant display of speed, while the third in Reggio Emilia confirmed his skill and consistency under pressure.
His fourth win in Tortona on Friday was arguably the most spectacular, earning special praise for the way he fought back to catch the sprinters, dived fearlessly along the barriers and then had the speed to pass Sam Bennett and hit the finish line first.
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His three victories equalled Giuseppe Saronni's 1978 record of three victories in a Giro d'Italia debut. Four wins at just 22 equalled a feat of the prodigious Damiano Cunego in 2004 and made him the first Colombian to ever win four stages in a single Grand Tour. Gaviria has definitively destroyed the stereotype that the best Colombian riders are always climbers.
Gaviria is an archetypal modern sprinter. He can win with a lead-out train, fight on his own and change his strategy in a split second and even come back from the behind. It makes him the most exciting talent of his young generation; he is the heir to Peter Sagan's crown and could quickly try to overthrow the world champion.
"It's easy to compare him to Sagan, but it's right too," Saronni told La Gazzetta dello Sport, who pointed to the fact that Sagan won three stages in the 2011 Vuelta a Espana and then at the 2012 Tour de France when just 22.
No Tour de France debut but a protected role in the 2018 Classics
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