Álvaro Mejía Castrillón (born January 19, 1967, in Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda Department) is a Colombian former professional road cyclist.
Mejía took up cycling at the age of 16, after watching Lucho Herrera, Fabio Parra and Óscar Vargas racing in the Vuelta a Colombia. He had previously competed in football and athletics, having been national junior champion for the 10,000 metres. In 1988 he won the Under-23 Vuelta a Colombia and the Clásico RCN. He won the young rider classification in the 1991 Tour de France and finished fourth at the 1991 UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart, where he was part of the winning break alongside Gianni Bugno, Steven Rooks and Miguel Indurain. Mejía joined the Motorola team in 1993: that season he won the Volta a Catalunya and finished fourth in the 1993 Tour de France. Subsequently he spent two more seasons with Motorola before finishing his road racing career with the Petroleo de Colombia team. He spent two more years racing mountain bikes before retiring from competition. During his career he also won other stage races including the Vuelta a Murcia, Route du Sud and Vuelta a Galicia.
After retiring from competition, Mejía became a doctor and lecturer, and has taught at the Technological University of Pereira and the Universidad Andina in Pereira.
Career achievements Major results
1987 3rd Overall Clásico RCN 1st Stage 7 1988 1st Overall Clásico RCN 2nd Overall Vuelta a Colombia 1st Prologue & Stage 6 1989 1st Overall Clásico RCN 1st Stages 6 & 8 (ITT) 3rd Trofeo Masferrer 1990 2nd Overall Clásico RCN 3rd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 1st Stage 8 (ITT) 1991 1st Young rider classification, Tour de France 1st Overall Tour of Galicia 1st Stage 3 4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 4th Overall Volta a Catalunya 1992 1st Overall Vuelta a Murcia 4th Overall Clásico RCN 1st Prologue 1993 1st Overall Volta a Catalunya 3rd Overall Tour of Galicia 4th Overall Tour de France 1994 1st Overall Route du Sud 6th Overall Vuelta a Murcia 1995 4th Overall Tour DuPont 8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Giro d'Italia———3039— Tour de France4919DNF 43116 Vuelta a España172229——DNF
+ LegendDSQ DisqualifiedDNF Did not finish
References
External links Article on Mejía from diariovasco.com