Café de Colombia () was a Colombian based professional
road bicycle racing
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...
Cycling team
A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...
active from 1983 to 1990. The team was sponsored by the
Colombian coffee
Coffee production in Colombia has a reputation for producing mild, well-balanced coffee beans. Colombia's average annual coffee production of 11.5 million bags is the third total highest in the world, after Brazil and Vietnam, though highe ...
growers
Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia.
History
The team came into existence just as
Colombian cyclists were achieving successes in Europe. This started with a Colombian National Cycling team entering and winning the
Tour de l'Avenir
Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independent ...
in 1980 with
Alfonso Flórez
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
. The
1983 Tour de France
The 1983 Tour de France was the 70th edition of the Tour de France, run from 1 to 24 July, with 22 stages and a prologue covering a total distance of The race was won by French rider Laurent Fignon. Sean Kelly of Ireland won the points classi ...
was the first time that the race was "open" to accommodate amateurs to compete. As a result, the Colombian cyclists were able to compete in a Colombian national cycling team. The following year the Colombian national team, with sponsorship from
VARTA
VARTA AG (; german: link=no, Vertrieb, Aufladung, Reparatur transportabler Akkumulatoren – ) is a German company manufacturing batteries for global automotive, industrial, and consumer markets.
History
VARTA was founded by Adolf Müller in ...
batteries, returned to the
1984 Tour de France
The 1984 Tour de France was the 71st edition of the Tour de France, run over in 23 stages and a prologue, from 29 June to 22 July. The race was dominated by the Renault team, who won the team classification and ten stages: Renault's French rider ...
where
Luis Herrera, still an amateur, won the stage to the
Alpe d'Huez
L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
It is part ...
. After these successes, a professional cycling team was set up that would give contracts and a chance of success in Europe to Colombian cyclists. In 1985 this team was called ''Varta–Café de Colombia–Mavic'' and had as manager José Raúl Meza Orozco. The team was composed of 24 riders from Colombia, 20 of which Café de Colombia had given them their first professional contracts, which included
Luis Herrera and
Fabio Parra.
The following year
Raphaël Géminiani
Raphaël Géminiani (born Clermont-Ferrand; born 12 June 1925) is a French former road bicycle racer. He had six podium finishes in the Grand Tours. He is one of four children of Italian immigrants who moved to Clermont-FerrandColin, Jacques (2 ...
was team manager together with Jorge Humberto Tenjo Porras.
In 1987 the team, under the guidance of team manager
Rafael Antonio Niño and
directeur sportif
A ''directeur sportif'' (French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is s ...
Roberto Sánchez, obtained perhaps its greatest success in 1987 when
Luis Herrera won the
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) 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 ...
. Pedro Pablo Valdivieso Ayala and José Gabriel Castro Medina would also be
directeur sportif
A ''directeur sportif'' (French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is s ...
s with the team. The team stopped after 1990.
Major wins
;1985
:Stage 8
Tour de l'Avenir
Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independent ...
:Stage 7
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) 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 ...
:Stage 11, 14 and Mountains classification
1985 Tour de France
:Stage 3
Dauphiné Libéré
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
:
General classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...
Clásico RCN
The Clásico RCN (Spanish for ''RCN Classic'') 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 event is sponsored by ...
;1986
:
General classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...
Vuelta a la Costa
:
General classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...
Clásico RCN
The Clásico RCN (Spanish for ''RCN Classic'') 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 event is sponsored by ...
;1987
:Stage 6
Dauphiné Libéré
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
:
General classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...
Clásico RCN
The Clásico RCN (Spanish for ''RCN Classic'') 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 event is sponsored by ...
:
General classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...
, one stage and Mountains classification
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) 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 ...
;1988
:General classification
Dauphiné Libéré
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
:Clasico Centenario de Armenia
:Stage 1 Vuelta Americas
:Stage 2 part b Vuelta al Táchira
:Stage 3, 7a and
General classification
The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi- stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumula ...
Postgirot Open
:General classification Tour of the Americas
;1990
:Clasica Duitama
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cafe de Colombia
Defunct cycling teams based in Colombia
Cycling teams based in Colombia
Cycling teams established in 1983
Cycling teams disestablished in 1990