: Colombian Champion of the
Giro d'Italia and the
Vuelta a España. is a Colombian cyclist, two-time Olympic gold medalist and
BMX World Champion.
Cycling in Colombia became very popular with the beginning of the annual
Vuelta a Colombia race in 1951, followed by the annual
Clásico RCN starting in 1961. The triumphs of
Martín Emilio "Cochise" Rodríguez in European cycling competitions increased the sport's popularity, which in turn helped to develop the
Colombian Cycling Federation. Rodriguez was followed by professional Colombian cyclists known as the "Colombian beetles", which include up to this date
Luis "Lucho" Herrera,
Luis Felipe Laverde,
Fabio Parra,
Víctor Hugo Peña,
Santiago Botero,
Mauricio Soler. The "escarabajo" (beetle) nickname was coined by radio announcer José Enrique Buitrago, while watching
Ramón Hoyos climb a hill ahead of French professional racer
José Beyaert during the 1955 Vuelta a Colombia. Colombian cycling has enjoyed a renaissance in the early 2010s, with Colombian riders enjoying international success. One of the factors cited for this success has been the establishment of the
4-72 Colombia cycling team (formerly known as Colombia es Pasión-Café de Colombia), which has developed several cyclists who have gone on to compete for
UCI Worldteams. The government-backed
Colombia-Coldeportes cycling team competed at the 2013 Giro d'Italia, and was the first all-Colombian team to do so for 21 years. however the team announced its disbanding in October 2015 due to the withdrawal of financial support from
Coldeportes, the Colombian government's sports ministry. Riders who graduated to the UCI World Tour from the team included
Esteban Chaves and
Darwin Atapuma. High-profile riders emerging in this period include
Nairo Quintana,
Rigoberto Urán,
Sergio Henao,
Carlos Betancur and
Mariana Pajón. The two main strongholds of the sport in Colombia are the
Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the centre of the country and
Antioquia in the west, both being mountainous regions. During the 1990s, the government of the Colombian capital,
Bogotá introduced the
Ciclovía, which became popular and were introduced later into other Colombian cities. The government of Bogotá later built
Bogotá's Bike Paths Network to sponsor the practice of sports by the population and to curb the city's increasing pollution by drivers. The network extends throughout the city with bicycle use increasing five times in the city. There is an estimated 300,000 to 400,000 trips made daily in Bogotá by bicycle.
Champions •
María Luisa Calle, bronze medal winner in the
2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens and World Champion. •
Fabio Parra, 3rd place in the tour de France, 1988 •
Santiago Botero, Time trial world champion •
Martín Emilio "Cochise" Rodríguez, Hour world record holder and world champion in 4,000 m pursuit. •
Marlon Pérez, Youth World Champion in the
points race, 1994 •
Efraín Domínguez, Double world record in kilometer and 200 m pushed 1987 •
Luis "Lucho" Herrera, "El jardinerito", Champion of the
Dauphiné Libéré (1988, 1991) and
Vuelta a España (1987), first non-European to win the
Tour de France Mountains classification (1985) •
Martín Ramírez, Champion Dauphiné Libéré 1984 •
Alfonso Flórez Ortiz, Champion
Tour de l'Avenir 1980 •
Víctor Hugo Peña, one of only three Colombian cyclists to have ever worn the
yellow jersey in the
Tour de France (2003). •
Rigoberto Urán, silver medal winner in the
Men's Olympic Road Race,
2012 Summer Olympics, second place in the
Giro d'Italia (2013, 2014), second place in the
Tour de France (2017). •
Mariana Pajón, gold medal winner at the
2012 Summer Olympics in the
women's BMX event, gold medal winner at the
2016 Summer Olympics in the
women's BMX event. •
Carlos Oquendo, bronze medal winner at the
2012 Summer Olympics in the
men's BMX event. •
Nairo Quintana, 2nd place overall in the
Tour de France, 2013, 1st place overall
Tour of the Basque Country, 2013, 1st place overall
Vuelta a Burgos, 2013, 1st place overall
Giro d'Italia 2014, winner of
Tirreno–Adriatico 2015, 1st place overall
Vuelta a España 2016. •
Edwin Ávila, double track cycling world champion in the points race (2011,2014). •
Esteban Chaves, second place in the
Giro d'Italia (2016) •
Carlos Ramírez placed third at the
2016 Summer Olympics in
men's BMX •
Iván Sosa, 1st place overall in the
2018 Vuelta a Burgos •
Fernando Gaviria wearer of the
Yellow Jersey in the
2018 Tour de France •
Egan Bernal winner of the general and youth classifications in the
2019 Tour de France and
2021 Giro d'Italia == Roller skating ==