Postobón was a Colombian based professional road bicycle racing cycling team active from 1986 to 1996. The team was sponsored by the Colombian beverage manufacturers Postobón. The team name was sometimes Manzana–Postobón after one of the most popular drinks that the beverage manufacturer produced.
The team came into existence the year after the creation of the Café de Colombia-Pilas Varta-Mavic. The first manager of the Café de Colombia team was José Raúl Meza Orozco but he joined Postóbon. Asdrubal Salazar, Elkin Dario Rendón Rojas, José Alfonso López Lemus and Narsutis Dumbauskas would be involved in the managing of the team of the ten years of its existence.
Luis Herrera rode the last two years of his career with the team. Chepe González, a stage winner in the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia began his career with the team. The team obtained success and challenged the dominance of Café de Colombia in the Vuelta a Colombia with Pablo Wilches, Gustavo Wilches and José González. On February 22, 1995, three cyclists of the team - Néstor Mora, Hernán Patiño and Augusto Triana were killed while training on a highway in Colombia when they were hit by a truck.
Major wins
1986 Stage Vuelta a Colombia 1987 General classification and one stage Vuelta a Colombia Stage Clásico RCN 1988 General classification Clásica Ciudad de Girardot General classification Vuelta a Boyacà Two stages Clásico RCN 1989 Mountains classification and one stage Vuelta a España Stage Clásico RCN 1990 Stage Vuelta a España Stage 7 Dauphiné Libéré Stage 2 Vuelta a Venezuela General classification General classification Clásico RCN 1991 General classification and one stage Dauphiné Libéré Stage 6 Volta a Catalunya Mountains classification and Stage 16 Vuelta a España 1992 General classification Clásico RCN General classification Vuelta a los valles Mineros General classification Vuelta a Costa Rica General classification Vuelta Ciclista an Aragón General classification and one stage Route du Sud General classification Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia Stage 7 Dauphiné Libéré 1994 Stage Clásico RCN 1995 National road race championships (Efraín Rico) General classification and one stage Ruta Mexico Stage Clásico RCN 1996 Stage wins Vuelta a Colombia
References