In the 2023 edition “Supermán” López won nine of the 10 stages of the Vuelta a Colombia.
Photo: Twitter: Team Medellín
At the beginning of the 1950s, in the last century, while bipartisan violence intensified in the country, two sporting events served as a balm for society: the professional soccer tournament that began to be played in 1948 and the Vuelta a Colombia in bicycle, whose first edition was held in 1951.
During those years, the best players on the continent came to the country to entertain the fans of the main cities with their goals and dribbles, but the Vuelta had more roots among the people because it visited the regions and most of its protagonists were local heroes.
The test served to boost the development of the country’s infrastructure. Many bridleways and trails were improved with resources from the national and local governments, while the municipalities of departure and arrival of the stages invested resources to pave their main streets and beautify public buildings and main parks.
And the rivalry between riders from different departments generated so much interest that the nascent radio networks had to modernize to carry out live broadcasts, which was what people were asking for. Efraín began to shine the Zipa Forero, the first winner; Ramón Hoyos Vallejo, five-time champion; Hernán Medina Calderón, the Student Princeand Martín Emilio Cochise Rodríguez, first four times.
For two decades, the Vuelta was the main scene of confrontation between Antioquia, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Valle, which were the powers. And all the towns were paralyzed when the competition was over and there was a civic day when they were the arrival site. Thus, in the midst of difficulties, little mechanical assistance and a lot of passion, the first “beetles” were formed, those that opened the international path to the off-road vehicles that today triumph on the roads of the world. One of them was Rafael Antonio Niño, the Cucaita’s Childwho won six editions in ten years.
But the magic of those times in which the country was attentive to the Vuelta began to be lost precisely when our riders began to triumph in Europe, in the 80s. Fans preferred to follow the performances of their compatriots in Spain, Italy and France , because that was then the order of the grand tours. And the local calendar lost relevance, as the main sponsors and radio networks also chose to allocate their resources to supporting teams that raced in Europe and broadcasting international events.
The stars stopped rolling on our roads and the economic crisis of the 90s, largely a product of the fight against drug trafficking and economic opening, left the Vuelta a Colombia in intensive care. So much so that for many years it was not broadcast live, as was tradition.
However, the race continued to promote local talent and was always held, despite the lack of resources. With the Vuelta al Futuro, the Vuelta de la Juventud and Vuelta al Porvenir, in addition to 32 more road tests each year, the Vuelta a Colombia continues to be a great quarry, through which several of the cyclists who succeed today in squads have passed. of the Old Continent.
In the last decade, the figure has been the Colombian-Spanish Óscar Sevilla, three-time champion and seven-time podium finisher. The race was broadcast again on radio and television, as in its moments of greatest glory. In the historical record, the riders from Boyacá have won 28 victories, those from Antioquia have won 17 and those from Cundinamarca have won ten.
Precisely the successes of that second golden generation (the first was that of Lucho Herrera and Fabio Parra in the 80s), led by Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Urán, Egan Bernal, Esteban Chaves and Miguel Ángel López, served as a stimulus for local cycling. And little by little the return regained prominence with the consolidation of several professional teams in the country.
It was not even overshadowed by the dispute of the Colombia Tour with several World Tour squads and much better marketing, between 2018 and 2020. Last year, in an unprecedented performance, “Supermán” López took the title after winning nine of the 10 stages that were disputed.
The Vuelta a Colombia 2024 begins in Macanal, Boyacá
The 74th edition of the competition, the most important on the continent, begins this Friday in the municipality of Macanal, south of Boyacá, with a 7.4-kilometer prologue. The test, UCI 2.2 category, will travel 1,295 kilometers until June 23, through the departments of Boyacá, Cundinamarca, Tolima, Caldas, Risaralda, Valle and Antioquia.
There will be nine days, among which the fourth stands out, between Mariquita and Alto de Letras, the queen stage, with 143.4 kilometers and six mountain prizes, two of them at more than 4,000 meters high, in the heights of Windows and The Siphon.
According to the organizers, the fifth fraction, between Buga (Valle) and Apía (Risaralda), and the eighth, between Supía and Alto de Minas, will also be key, which will have two demanding mountain prizes each. The Vuelta a Colombia 2024, which will be broadcast on the RCN Channel, ends with an individual time trial of 17.3 kilometers, between the EPM Intelligent Building in Medellín and El Alto de Las Palmas.
In total there will be 176 cyclists who will take the game this Friday, divided into 25 teams, five of them foreign. Led by the experienced Antioquian coach Raúl Mesa, one of the new squads of the national platoon will seek its fifth victory of the season. Alejandro Osorio, national road champion, and Edgar Andrés Pinzón command the GW Erco Shimano, directed by Luis Alfonso Cely.
In the absence of Óscar Sevilla, due to injury after a fall last week, Team Medellín will have Fabio Duarte, Javier Jamaica and Róbigzon Oyola as its team leaders. The player of Forte Petrolike – Androni Giocattoli, from Mexico, is the Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo, while Juan Diego Alba is the leader of Movistar Best. We must closely follow Alexánder Gil and Johan Colón, from Orgullo Paisa, as well as Wilson Peña, from Team Sistecrédito.
This Thursday, June 13, in Guateque (Boyacá), the license review, the confirmation of the cyclists, the technical conference, the meeting of the organization with representatives of the police, commissioners, photographers, cameramen and drivers and the presentation of equipment.
