Vuelta a Guatemala

The Vuelta a Guatemala (Spanish for Tour of Guatemala) is a multi-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually and typically during late October and early November in several locations in Guatemala. The competition carries a UCI rating of 2.2 (having also been rated 2.5 from 2002 to 2004)[1] and is part of the UCI America Tour, which is one of six UCI Continental Circuits sponsored by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the sport's international governing body.[2] The race is organized by the Federacion Nacional de Ciclismo de Guatemala.

Vuelta a Guatemala
Race details
DateOctober–November
RegionGuatemala
English nameTour of Guatemala
DisciplineRoad race
CompetitionUCI America Tour
TypeStage race
OrganiserFed. Nacional de Ciclismo de Guatemala
History
First edition1957 (1957)
Editions60 (as of 2020)
First winner Jorge Surqué
Most wins2 times:
Aureliano Cuque López
José Patrocinio Jiménez
Edin Roberto Nova
Manuel Rodas
Juan Carlos Rojas
Román Villalobos
Most recent Mardoqueo Vásquez (GUA)

History

The Vuelta a Guatemala, which has become the largest sporting event in the country in terms of spectator affluence, was first held in 1957. The winner of the first edition was local racer Jorge Surqué, and during the first four years, the competition was dominated by Guatemalan and Colombian participants. As of 2007, Colombia is the nation with the most wins all-time, with 21 general classification individual wins.

From 1992 to 1996, five different Colombian participants took five consecutive titles, before local racer Luis Rodolfo Muj won in 1997, becoming the first Guatemalan to finish first since Edin Roberto Nova had won his second tour in 1988, and ending the longest drought of titles for his country.

The winner of the 2004 edition of the race, Lizandro Ajcú, was disqualified afterwards for doping in what was the biggest doping case of the race’s history – nine riders including the first four on the General classification returned positive A samples.[3]

In 2005, the tour was cancelled after Tropical Storm Stan's heavy rainfalls caused floods and mudslides which damaged infrastructure and caused 1500 deaths weeks before the race was due to begin.[4][5]

The LII edition of the race in 2011 was cancelled by the organizers shortly before the start of the race. Heavy rains during September and October damaged roads and paths, and the Guatemala Government, having concerns for life safety, decreed the cancellation as the infrastructure could not be restored in such a short period and re-scheduling of the event was not feasible due to the busy schedules of different participants.[6] The event was then scheduled for May 13–20, 2012.[7]

Past winners

Numerous fans gather in Quetzaltenango to observe a stage of the XLVIII Vuelta a Guatemala in 2007
Year Country Rider Team
1957  Guatemala Jorge Surqué
1958  Colombia Hernán Medina
1959  Guatemala Aureliano Cuque
1960  Colombia Jorge Luque
1961  Guatemala Aureliano Cuque
1962  Spain Esteban Martín
1963  Guatemala Juan José Pontaza
1964  Colombia Rubén Darío Gómez
1965  Spain José Segu
1966  Guatemala Saturnino Rustrián
1967  Guatemala Benigno Rustrián
1968  Spain Manuel Galera
1969  Spain Fulgencio Sánchez
1970  Spain José Abelda
1971  Guatemala Mario Nufio
1972  Guatemala Samuel Herrera
1973  Colombia Luis Leonardo Tobar
1974 No race
1975  Mexico Manuel Ceja
1976  Colombia José Patrocinio Jiménez
1977  Colombia José Patrocinio Jiménez
1978 No race
1979  Mexico Bernardo Cólex
1980  Colombia Samuel Cabrera
1981  Guatemala Héctor Dubón
1982  Colombia Rafael Tolosa
1983  Guatemala Victor Castañeda
1984  Guatemala Edin Nova
1985  Colombia Héctor Patarroyo
1986  Colombia Josué López
1987  Colombia Orlando Castillo
1988  Guatemala Edin Nova
1989  Chile Daniel Vargas
1990  Colombia Adolfo Rico
1991  Costa Rica Andrés Brenes
1992  Colombia José Castelblanco
1993  Colombia José Robles
1994  Cuba Eliecer Valdés
1995  Colombia Jairo Hernández
1996  Colombia Graciano Fonseca
1997  Guatemala Luis Rodolfo Muj Windsor-Guatemala
1998  Colombia Ismael Sarmiento Colombia (national team)
1999  Guatemala Fernando Escobar Bancomet
2000  Guatemala Fermín Méndez Bancomet
2001  Colombia Gregorio Ladino Canel's Turbo-México
2002  Colombia Víctor Hugo González Hino-Radio Punto-E.U.A.
2003  Colombia César Salazar Lotería del Táchira
2004  Costa Rica Paulo Vargas Pizza Hut-Costa Rica
2005 No race
2006  Costa Rica Juan Carlos Rojas Dos Pinos Costa Rica
2007  Mexico Carlos López Gonzalez Canel's Turbo-Mayordomo
2008  Venezuela Manuel Medina Café Quetzal
2009  Costa Rica Juan Carlos Rojas Café Quetzal
2010  Colombia Giovanny Báez EPM-UNE
2011 No race
2012  Colombia Ramiro Rincón EPM-UNE
2013  Colombia Óscar Sánchez GW Shimano
2014  Colombia Alex Cano Orgullo Antioqueño
2015  Costa Rica Román Villalobos Nestlé-Giant
2016  Costa Rica Román Villalobos Canel's–Specialized
2017  Guatemala Manuel Rodas Decorabaños
2018  Guatemala Alfredo Ajpacajá Decorabaños
2019  Guatemala Manuel Rodas Decorabaños
2020  Guatemala Mardoqueo Vásquez Hino-One-La Red-Tigo-Eurobikes

References

  1. "Vuelta a Guatemala". memoire-du-cyclisme.net. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  2. "UCI Road Calendar". UCI. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
  3. "Nine positives in Vuelta a Guatemala". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  4. "Vuelta a Guatemala cancelled". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  5. "La vuelta a Guatemala se suspende". Prensa Libre. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-10-22.
  6. (in Spanish) "Gobierno suspende la edición número 52 de la Vuelta ciclística a Guatemala" "Se confirma la cancelación de la 52 Vuelta a Guatemala"
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-05-18. Retrieved 2012-05-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.