A total of 1,284 days have passed since Ivan Ramiro Sosa claimed his last victory on October 18, 2022 (at the Tour de Langkawi 2022) before triumphing this afternoon in Kiran during the third stage of the Tour of Turkey 2026.

At that time, the class of '97 was still wearing the Movistar jersey and, undoubtedly, would never have expected to fail to raise his arms to the sky since then and, in general, to struggle to make his mark in the subsequent four seasons where, even after changing teams, the results obtained were far from exciting.

Despite this and the physical problems he had to face, Sosa did not give up and, appealing to all his desire to climb back up and his love for cycling, today he finally managed to put his wheel ahead of everyone, bringing back a victory of undoubtedly special value.

"I came here with the intention to win, or at least to try, and I believe that in the end I knew I could do it. I'm extremely happy to have succeeded today. I thank God, my family, my team and everyone who helped me during the difficult period I went through and the people who believed in me" declared the Colombian rider in the press conference, who, forced to end last season early due to the operation he had to undergo to resolve an endofibrosis of the iliac artery, always remained convinced that he could return to good levels.

"When I was recovering from the operation I knew I would come back stronger than before. It was quite a tough period that I had to spend on the sidelines but this break ultimately made me stronger and today I am very happy with the level I have reached. Results like today's confirm that the path we followed was the right one and I can still have my say, perhaps even approaching the best version of myself" Sosa explained before revealing the sensations he had on the complicated final climb.

"I believe that today's finish was really tough, I didn't remember it being this hard. I felt very good and around five kilometers from the finish, when I saw that many were looking at each other, I told myself to try. I knew that the key was to manage the effort while maintaining the pace I had taken all the way to the end but even so the final stretch seemed to never really end, partly due to the effort, which was very intense, and partly because it was also quite hot. In the end, though, it went well, we won and managed to take the lead in the general classification, even though we know it's still all open and there are many strong riders who will do everything to take away a jersey that I will try to defend in every way".

To succeed, Sosa will not be able to do without the support of all his teammates at Equipo Kern Pharma present in Turkey, guys who, as the native of Pasca himself explained, do not lack the right mentality and the "hunger" to achieve satisfaction or help him do so.

"I believe that this victory is an important incentive to continue working in this direction and try to achieve new successes. I am surrounded by guys who want to learn as much as possible and want to give their best and I believe that this helps them understand how to manage their efforts. The important thing, however, is that everyone wants to work and this ensures that the team functions at its best and everyone aspires to win so that each one can feel comfortable".

It is not ruled out that these new achievements will come in the course of this week of racing in Turkey where, on Friday, there is another finish particularly suited to the characteristics of the South American and some of his other Equipo Kern Pharma teammates.

"The next uphill finish? It will be quite a long climb, where it will be essential to manage the effort carefully because I believe we will be climbing for more than an hour" Sosa warned, showing himself decidedly aware of the pitfalls awaiting him and the team in the coming stages.