Race details | |
---|---|
Date | August (until 2020) June (since 2022) |
Region | Colombia |
English name | Tour of Colombia |
Local name(s) | Vuelta a Colombia(in Spanish) |
Discipline | Road race |
Competition | UCI America Tour |
Type | Stage race |
Organiser | Colombian Cycling Federation |
Web site | www |
History | |
First edition | 1951 |
Editions | 74 (as of 2024) |
First winner | Efraín Forero Triviño (COL) |
Most wins | Rafael Antonio Niño (COL) (6 wins) |
Most recent | Rodrigo Contreras (COL) |
The Vuelta a Colombia (Spanish for Tour of Colombia) is an annual cycling road race, run over many stages throughout different regions in Colombia and sometimes Venezuela and Ecuador during the first days of August. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation, [1] and is currently held as a category 2.2 event on the UCI America Tour.
The first Vuelta a Colombia was held in 1951 as an idea of Englishman Donald W. Raskin and a few of his friends, emulating the European Tour de France. It was a 1,233 kilometers race which was divided in 10 stages which included three rest days. [2] Thirty-five cyclists lined up for the race and of which thirty finished the race. [3] The first champion of Vuelta was Efraín Forero Triviño who won seven stages of the race. [4] For the second edition, the race was increased in stages to 13 and was around 1,670 km in length. It was held from the 12 to the 27 or 28 January 1952. It appears that 60 cyclists lined up for the race. [5] The 3rd edition of the race was the first edition to have 15 stages that covered 1,750 km. [6]
Over the years, there has been several serious accidents and even deaths during the race. Some of these cyclists, who have had very serious and career-ending accidents, include Conrado "Tito" Gallo, Gilberto Achicanoy, Felipe Liñán and Ernesto Santander. [7] In 2005, there was a tragic accident in Vuelta in which a local radio journalist, Alberto Martínez Prader, died while transmitting the race. Martinez was traveling in a jeep with José Fernando López and Héctor Urrego when, descending from the La Linea peak towards Calarcá, the vehicle lost control on a curve and fell into a ravine. [8]
It is currently a fifteen-stage race that is regarded as one of the toughest races in cycling. The mountain passes that the peloton encounters are hundreds of metres higher than any of the passes used in the Tour de France.
The 2010 edition was won by Sergio Luis Henao of the Indeportes Antioquia–Idea–FLA–Lotería de Medellín Team ahead of teammate Óscar Sevilla and José Rujano, the previous year's winner. [9]
On 21 November, 2017, Róbinson López (Lotería de Boyacá), current U23 Colombian champion, tested positive for the third generation blood booster – CERA. [10] A week later, news broke that Luis Alberto Largo (Sogamoso–Argos–Cooservicios–Idrs), Edward Díaz (EPM), Jonathan Felipe Paredes and Fabio Nelson Montenegro (Ebsa–Indeportes Boyacá), Luis Camargo Flechas (Supergiros) and Óscar Soliz (Movistar Amateur Team) had all tested positive for CERA at the 2017 edition of the race. [11]
The Vuelta a España is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the race was first organised in 1935. The race was prevented from being run by the Spanish Civil War and World War II in the early years of its existence; however, the race has been held annually since 1955. As the Vuelta gained prestige and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend all around the globe. Since 1979, the event has been staged and managed by Unipublic, until in 2014, when the Amaury Sport Organisation acquired control. Since then, they have been working together. The peloton expanded from a primarily Spanish participation to include riders from all over the world. The Vuelta is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with the exception of the wild card teams that the organizers can invite.
Santiago Botero Echeverry is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a España. He is best known for winning the mountains classification in the Tour de France, and the Time Trial World Championship 2002.
Danilo Di Luca is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist, best known for winning the 2007 Giro d'Italia, but also for several positive doping tests, the last of which resulting in a lifetime ban from the sport.
Stefan Schumacher is a German former professional road racing cyclist. Schumacher won the bronze medal in the road race at the 2007 UCI Road World Championships, two stages in the 2006 Giro d'Italia and two stages in the 2008 Tour de France. After positive results on doping products in the 2008 Tour de France and the 2008 Summer Olympics, he received a suspension for two years, later reduced by some months. After his suspension, he came back as a professional cyclist before retiring in 2017.
Ariel Maximiliano Richeze Araquistain is an Argentine professional cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2006 until January 2023. Richeze won the silver medal at the 2015 Pan American Games. His brothers Roberto, Mauro and Adrián are also cyclists.
Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Parra was successful as an amateur in Colombia, winning the Novatos classification for new riders or riders riding their first edition of the race, and finishing 14th in the 1979 Vuelta a Colombia and then the General classification in the 1981 Vuelta a Colombia. He also competed in the individual road race event at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
The Clásico RCN is an annual cycling road race that takes place over many stages through different regions of Colombia during October. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation.
The Vuelta a Guatemala is a multi-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually and typically during late October and early November in several locations in Guatemala. The competition carries a UCI rating of 2.2 and is part of the UCI America Tour, which is one of six UCI Continental Circuits sponsored by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the sport's international governing body. The race is organized by the Federacion Nacional de Ciclismo de Guatemala.
Luis Fernando Camargo Flechas is a Colombian road racing cyclist, who is currently suspended from the sport. He is nicknamed "Tenorio".
Team Manzana Postobón was a UCI Professional Continental cycling team based in Colombia. The team was founded in 2006, becoming a Continental team in 2007. In 2015, the team competed as a club, before returning to Continental status the following year. From 2017 until its disbanding in 2019 the team held Professional Continental status.
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya is a Colombian racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Continental team Nu Colombia. He previously competed for Team Sky, UAE Team Emirates and Team Qhubeka NextHash.
Movistar Team (Continental Team) (UCI Code MOT) was a Colombian UCI Continental cycling team.
Carlos Alberto Betancur Gómez is a Colombian road racing cyclist, who most recently rode for Colombian amateur team Colombia Tierra de Atletas–GW Bicicletas.
Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, ODB, is a Colombian racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Movistar Team.
Oscar Soliz is a Bolivian road racing cyclist, who rides for Bolivian amateur team Potosí. Between 2017 and 2021, Soliz was suspended from the sport after testing positive for continuous erythropoietin receptor activator (CERA) at the 2017 Vuelta a Colombia.
The 2014 Vuelta a Colombia was the 64th edition of the Vuelta a Colombia cycling stage race, and was held from 6 to 17 August 2014. It was won by the Spanish cyclist Óscar Sevilla.
The 2015 UCI America Tour was the eleventh season for the UCI America Tour. The season began on 9 January 2015 with the Vuelta al Táchira and ended on 25 December 2015 with the Vuelta a Costa Rica.
Kléber Ramos da Silva is a Brazilian cyclist, who currently rides for Brazilian amateur team Unifunvic Pindamondangadaba.
Luis Orán Castañeda Ramos was a Colombian road cyclist. He rode the 2000 Giro d'Italia.