9 facts you did not know about La Vuelta a Colombia

An origin in journalism

The first Vuelta a Colombia had its origin thanks to Colombian journalism, more specifically to the newspaper El Tiempo, which devised and sponsored the event in August 1950 . This first lap covered a distance of 1233 km .

Foreign winners

It is clear that in the history of la Vuelta, the majority of winners have been Colombians , but did you know that there are some foreign winners? In total, there have been 5

• The French José Beyaert in 1952
• The Spaniard José Gómez del Moral in 1957
• Venezuelan José Rujano in 2009
• The Spanish Óscar Sevilla (dual nationality) from 2013 to 2015
• Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo in 2018

More stages won

In total, Colombia is the country that has won the most stages with 865 stages until this edition of the lap. It is followed by Spain with 56 and Venezuela with 16 .

The youngest winner

The youngest winner of La Vuelta a Colombia has been Ruben Dario Gomez, who in 1959 won the competition at 19 years, 3 months and 2 days .

The oldest winner

Óscar Sevilla, the Spanish-Colombian cyclist, is the oldest winner to lift the trophy. Sevilla was 38 years, 10 months and 16 days old when he won La Vuelta in 2015 . It is worth noting that this would be the third consecutive round that Seville would win.

Great prizes

The prize for the winner of a stage of the last edition of the Tour of Colombia was 600,000 Colombian pesos (approximately 200 dollars) . In its original edition? The winner of a stage took 50 pesos.

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The most victorious

The Boyacense Rafael Antonio Niño is the cyclist who has won the Vuelta more times , with a total of 6. On the other hand, the one who has won the most stages is Martín Emilio Rodríguez Gutiérrez or “Cochise” with 39 .

An unbreakable record

Ramón Hoyos, a native of Antioquia, is the only four-time consecutive champion who has the tournament . This record has been undefeated since 1956. Hoyos is also the cyclist who has won the most stages in a single edition, with 12.

And the women's Tour of Colombia?

Only since 2016 has the Women's Vuelta a Colombia been held , a surprising fact, considering the popularity of cycling in the country. The woman who has won the most editions of this competition is Ana Cristina Sanabria, who won the first three editions.