Camila Vega
The Tour de France is the most prestigious race in the world of cycling. It covers a large part of France and ends in Paris, on the Champs Elysées. It is comparable to Roland Garros, as it is the most important race in the country.
A Look Back at All of the Latino/Spanish Winners of the Tour de France (so far)
Egan Bernal: the first of the Latino overall winners in 2019
Egan Bernal was the first Latin American cyclist to win the Tour de France. This happened in 2019, when on stage 19, he attacked more than 40km from the finish. On the climb to Col de L’Iseran the stage was stopped due to weather conditions and this forced the times to be taken on arrival at L’Iseran.
Bernal’s breakaway gained him more over 2 minutes on Alaphilippe, who was wearing the yellow jersey at the time. Thus, Egan Bernal retained the maillot jaune until Paris, where he was proclaimed King of the Tour de France and the first Latin winner of the TdF’s general classification. As if that were not enough, that same year he won the youth category.
Although he will have to miss the Tour this year due to a crash he had in Colombia, Egan Bernal is recovering and has shared this on social media:
Raúl Alcalá: winner of the young riders in 1987
Raúl Alcalá was the first Mexican to participate in the Tour de France and, in addition, to win the young rider classification. This happened in 1987 when, additionally, he finished ninth in the overall classification of the Tour. In the following three years, Alcalá won two more stages of the tour and in 1990 finished eighth overall. Even today, he is the only Mexican who has been on the Tour podium. This is why he is included in our list of Latin winners.
Lucho Herrera and Fabio Parra: winners of the mountain and young rider categories in 1985
Two years before Raúl Alcalá made history for Mexico, Colombians Lucho Herrera and Fabio Parra were celebrating their own victories, the first ones in the history of the tour for Colombia. These two riders, who ended up being remembered as legendary cyclists and pioneers of the sport in the country, won in the same year two categories among so many Europeans. These were the mountain and the young rider classifications.
Colombia is a hilly country with the Andes Mountains running through it. Therefore, from now on, the Colombians would stand out in the mountain stages and as category winners.
Santiago Botero, Mauricio Soler and Nairo Quintana: mountain category winners
Finally, our list includes the most recent Latino winners. All three riders are Colombian and won the same mountain category. Santiago Botero in 2000, Mauricio Soler in 2007 and Nairo Quintana in 2013. Although they are 13 years apart, these have been the riders who have stood out most for their climbing strength and contributed to the Colombian cyclists being called Los Escarabajos (The Beetles).
You now know who are the seven Latin American cyclists who have won various categories in the Tour de France.
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