Only days after Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-Sanremo, first two WorldTour events of Colombia Coldeportes’ young history, another very important race will see the Team in contention in France. On Tuesday February 14^th, ASO officially announced Colombia Coldeportes’ invitation to two-day stage race Criterium International (2.HC), from March 24^th to 25^th, 2012.

The race will be run in Corsica for the third time in a row, but this year’s route features a big change compared to the past, as the two half-stages – including one time trial – traditionally held on the final day will be moved to Saturday, while the uphill finish to the Col de l’Ospedale will decide the race on Sunday.

Colombia Coldeportes is part of a deep field of 16 races, including 7 World Tour outfits. Here is the list: Colombia-Coldeportes, Euskaltel-Euskadi, BMC, Garmin-Barracuda, AG2R-La Mondiale, FDJ-BigMat, Team Sky, RadioShack-Nissan-Trek, Team Type 1-Sanofi, Bretagne-Schuller, Cofidis, Saur-Sojasun, Europcar, Project 1t4i, Auber 93 and La Pomme Marseille.

Here is the race programme:

March 24, Stage 1: Porto Vecchio – Porto Vecchio, 89.5 km
March 24, Stage 2: Porto Vecchio, 6.5 km (ITT)
March 25, Stage 3: Porto Vecchio – Col de l’Ospedale, 179 km

Photo: The race will be run in Corsica for the third year in a row