Álvaro Mejía Castrillón (born January 19, 1967, in

Santa Rosa de Cabal Santa Rosa de Cabal is a town and municipality in the Department of Risaralda, Colombia. About 14 km away from the capital Pereira. In 2023 the town had an estimated population of 79,840. History Founded in 1844 when the colonizer Fermín L� ...

, Risaralda Department) is a Colombian former professional

road cyclist Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes Recreational cycling, recreational, Road bicycle racing, racing, Bicycle commuting, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, ...

. Mejía took up cycling at the age of 16, after watching

Lucho Herrera Luis Alberto "Lucho" Herrera Herrera, known as "El jardinerito" ("the little gardener"; born May 4, 1961, in Fusagasugá, Colombia), is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Herrera was a professional from 1985 to 1992 but had a successful am ...

Fabio Parra Fabio Enrique Parra Pinto (born November 22, 1959, in Sogamoso, Boyacá) 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 ...

and Óscar Vargas racing in the Vuelta a Colombia. He had previously competed in

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, having been national junior champion for the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

. In 1988 he won the Under-23 Vuelta a Colombia and the Clásico RCN. He won the young rider classification in the

1991 Tour de France The 1991 Tour de France was the 78th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 6 to 28 July. The total race distance was 22 stages over . The race was won by Miguel Induráin, whose Banesto team also won the team classification in the Tou ...

and finished fourth at the 1991 UCI Road World Championships in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, where he was part of the winning break alongside

Gianni Bugno Gianni Bugno (; born 14 February 1964) is a retired Italy, Italian professional road racing cyclist. Biography Bugno was a versatile rider, able to do well in different types of races. He won numerous stages in the Tour de France, and the Mi ...

Steven Rooks Steven Rooks (born 7 August 1960) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995. Career In the 1988 Tour de France, Rooks finished second and won a finish o ...

and

Miguel Indurain --> Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to: Places * Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands * São Miguel (disam ...

. Mejía joined the

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

team in 1993: that season he won the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

and finished fourth in the

1993 Tour de France The 1993 Tour de France was the 80th edition of the Tour de France, taking place between July 3-25, 1993. It consisted of 20 stages, over a distance of . The winner of the previous two years, Miguel Induráin, successfully defended his title. Th ...

. Subsequently he spent two more seasons with Motorola before finishing his road racing career with the Petroleo de Colombia team. He spent two more years racing mountain bikes before retiring from competition. During his career he also won other stage races including the

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia () is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, due to Spain's fina ...

, Route du Sud and Vuelta a Galicia. After retiring from competition, Mejía became a doctor and lecturer, and has taught at the Technological University of Pereira and the Universidad Andina in Pereira.

Career achievements

Major results

;1987 : 3rd Overall Clásico RCN ::1st Stage 7 ;1988 : 1st Overall Clásico RCN : 2nd Overall Vuelta a Colombia ::1st Prologue & Stage 6 ;1989 : 1st Overall Clásico RCN ::1st Stages 6 & 8 ( ITT) : 3rd Trofeo Masferrer ;1990 : 2nd Overall Clásico RCN : 3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré ::1st Stage 8 ( ITT) ;1991 : 1st Young rider classification,

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

: 1st Overall

Tour of Galicia The Tour of Galicia (; ) is an annual cycling race held in Galicia, Spain. It was first held in 1933 and was held a further five times between 1934 and 1984. The tour did not take place from the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, until ...

::1st Stage 3 : 4th Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

: 4th Overall

;1992 : 1st Overall

: 4th Overall Clásico RCN ::1st Prologue ;1993 : 1st MaillotVolta

Overall

: 3rd Overall

: 4th Overall

;1994 : 1st Overall Route du Sud : 6th Overall

;1995 : 4th Overall

Tour DuPont The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestig ...

: 8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Article on Mejía from diariovasco.com
* 1967 births Living people People from Santa Rosa de Cabal Colombian male cyclists Colombian physicians 20th-century Colombian sportsmen {{colombia-cycling-bio-stub