Santiago Botero
Encyclopedia
Santiago Botero Echeverry (born October 27, 1972 in Medellín
, Colombia
) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France
and four editions of the Vuelta a España
(the Tour of Spain). He was best known for winning the mountains classification in the Tour de France, and the World Championship Time Trial.
He was, for the greater part of his career, a member of the Kelme
team, but in 2003 joined T-Mobile Team
(then named Team Telekom). His often brilliant performances as part of the Kelme dissipated in Team Telekom, with the team management blaming his lack of discipline in training, but he claimed health problems. In October 2004 he joined Phonak
, together with Miguel Ángel Martín Perdiguero
from Saunier Duval, and Víctor Hugo Peña
and Floyd Landis
from Discovery Channel-Berry Floor
. He currently lives in both Colombia and Madrid
, Spain
with his wife. Botero joined the American domestic team, Rock Racing, for the 2008 season. Botero finished his professional career riding for the Colombian team Indeportes Antioquia-IDEA-FLA-Lotería de Medellín.. He is currently the manager of UCI Continental team Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia.
in 2002. His career highlights include a stage win in the Vuelta a Andalucía
in 1999, a stage win in the Paris–Nice in 1999, a stage win in the 2000 Tour de France
, a polka dot jersey
as "King of the Mountains
" in the 2000 Tour de France, two stage wins in the Vuelta 2001, third place in the World Championships in the individual time trial
in 2001, and two stage wins and fourth place overall in the 2002 Tour de France
. Other victories include a stage win in the Clasica Bogota in 1997, a prologue win in the Vuelta a Chile in 1997, a stage win in GP Mitsubishi in 1998. After joining T-Mobile his accomplishments in the Tour diminished sharply.
On May 1, 2005 he won the Tour de Romandie
in Switzerland
, 33 seconds ahead of rising Italian star and favorite for the Giro d'Italia Damiano Cunego
. Romandie is often used as a preparation race for the Giro d'Italia
. Botero carried that form into the 2005 edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré when he won the individual time trial
ahead of Americans Levi Leipheimer
and Lance Armstrong
as well as winning the mountainous sixth stage which brought him into second overall in the general classification.
Tour de France
Other stage races
doping probe in Spain, this just weeks before the start of the 2006 Tour de France
. On October 2, 2006, Botero was cleared by the disciplinary committee of the Federación Colombiana de Ciclismo (Colombian Cycling Federation). On February 28, 2007, Botero was presented with his new team UNE Orbitel in Bogota, Colombia. He outlined that his ambitions for the year would be to win the Vuelta a Colombia
, to be the Colombian national champion and a podium place in the UCI World championships individual time trial
event. In August, Botero won the Vuelta a Colombia
for the first time in his career. He dominated the event by winning the prologue and two stages along the way as well as wearing the leaders jersey for most of the race.
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
and four editions of the Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
(the Tour of Spain). He was best known for winning the mountains classification in the Tour de France, and the World Championship Time Trial.
He was, for the greater part of his career, a member of the Kelme
Comunidad Valenciana (cycling team)
-History:In 1979, Kelme sponsored the mountains classification in the Vuelta a España. The owners of Kelme were not satisfied with the publicity that this gave, so they decided to sponsor a cycling team instead....
team, but in 2003 joined T-Mobile Team
T-Mobile Team
HTC-Highroad is a professional cycling team competing in international road bicycle races. Their current title sponsor is HTC Corporation, a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones. High Road Sports is the management company of team manager Bob Stapleton. Past title sponsors include Columbia...
(then named Team Telekom). His often brilliant performances as part of the Kelme dissipated in Team Telekom, with the team management blaming his lack of discipline in training, but he claimed health problems. In October 2004 he joined Phonak
Phonak (cycling team)
Phonak was a Swiss professional cycling team from 2000 until 2006. The team was one of 20 teams in the first UCI ProTour in 2005...
, together with Miguel Ángel Martín Perdiguero
Miguel Ángel Martín Perdiguero
Miguel Ángel Martín Perdiguero is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. He finished his career riding on the UCI ProTour for the Phonak Hearing Systems cycling team, with whom he had ridden since 2005...
from Saunier Duval, and Víctor Hugo Peña
Víctor Hugo Peña
Víctor Hugo Peña Grisales is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist. He is named after both his father Hugo and the more famous author Victor Hugo. He rides for the Rock Racing professional cycling team...
and Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis is an American retired cyclist who after initially being awarded victory in the 2006 Tour de France was stripped of his title for a doping offense. He was an all-around rider, with special skills in climbing and time-trialing, and is also known to be a very fast descender.Landis...
from Discovery Channel-Berry Floor
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team was a United States-based professional road bicycle racing team. It was the continuation of the 2004 U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, was its leader until July 2005...
. He currently lives in both Colombia and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
with his wife. Botero joined the American domestic team, Rock Racing, for the 2008 season. Botero finished his professional career riding for the Colombian team Indeportes Antioquia-IDEA-FLA-Lotería de Medellín.. He is currently the manager of UCI Continental team Gobernacion de Antioquia-Indeportes Antioquia.
Results
He was the World Champion in the individual time trialIndividual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
in 2002. His career highlights include a stage win in the Vuelta a Andalucía
Vuelta a Andalucía
The Vuelta a Andalucía or Ruta del Sol is a regional Spanish road bicycle race. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour....
in 1999, a stage win in the Paris–Nice in 1999, a stage win in the 2000 Tour de France
2000 Tour de France
The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3662.5 km...
, a polka dot jersey
Polka dot jersey
The Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...
as "King of the Mountains
King of the Mountains
The King of the Mountains is the title given to the best climber in a cycling road race; usually and officially known as the Mountains classification...
" in the 2000 Tour de France, two stage wins in the Vuelta 2001, third place in the World Championships in the individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
in 2001, and two stage wins and fourth place overall in the 2002 Tour de France
2002 Tour de France
The 2002 Tour de France started in Luxembourg on July 6, 2002, and ended in Paris on July 28. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps...
. Other victories include a stage win in the Clasica Bogota in 1997, a prologue win in the Vuelta a Chile in 1997, a stage win in GP Mitsubishi in 1998. After joining T-Mobile his accomplishments in the Tour diminished sharply.
On May 1, 2005 he won the Tour de Romandie
Tour de Romandie
The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, 33 seconds ahead of rising Italian star and favorite for the Giro d'Italia Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego is an Italian professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Italian UCI ProTeam . His biggest wins are the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007, 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the...
. Romandie is often used as a preparation race for the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
. Botero carried that form into the 2005 edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré when he won the individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
ahead of Americans Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
and Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support...
as well as winning the mountainous sixth stage which brought him into second overall in the general classification.
Summary
-
UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial (2002): Gold Medal; 1st place - World Time Trial Champion - UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial (2001): Bronze Medal; 3rd place
Tour de France
- 20002000 Tour de FranceThe 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3662.5 km...
: 7th overall, 1 stage win,
1st, Mountains classification - 20012001 Tour de FranceThe 2001 Tour de France was particularly difficult, having contained a 67-km long team time trial, two individual time trials and five mountain-top finishes on consecutive days, the second of which being the Chamrousse special category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were...
: 8th overall - 20022002 Tour de FranceThe 2002 Tour de France started in Luxembourg on July 6, 2002, and ended in Paris on July 28. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps...
: 4th overall, 2 stage wins
Other stage races
- Tour of Romandie (2005): 1st overall, 1 stage win
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (2005): 2nd overall, 2 stage wins
- Volta a Catalunya: (2006): 2nd overall
- Vuelta a ColombiaVuelta a ColombiaThe Vuelta a Colombia is an annual cycling road race, run over many stages throughout different regions in Colombia and sometimes Venezuela during the first days of August. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation.The first Vuelta a Colombia was held in 1951...
(20072007 Vuelta a Colombia-2007-07-28: Barranquilla — Barranquilla :-2007-07-29: Barranquilla — Aracataca :-2007-07-31: Aguachica — Barrancabermeja :-2007-08-01: Barrancabermeja — Piedecuesta :...
): 1st overall - Redlands Bicycle ClassicRedlands Bicycle ClassicThe Redlands Bicycle Classic is a cycling stage race located in Redlands, California, USA that has been held since 1985. It consists of two road races, a Individual Time Trial and a Criterium....
(2008): 1st Overall -
2007 Colombian National Road Race Champion2007 National Road Cycling ChampionshipsThe 2007 national road cycling championships took place throughout the year, with the majority taking place in late June and early July, although there are some exceptions... - 2009 Colombian National Time Trial Champion2009 National Cycling ChampionshipsThe 2009 national road cycling championships began in January in Australia and New Zealand. Most of the European national championships took place in June.-Jerseys:...
Doping allegations
In 2006, Team Phonak dropped him on June 2 after he was named in media reports in the massive Operación PuertoOperación Puerto doping case
Operación Puerto is the code name of a Spanish Police operation against the doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world most famous cyclists at the time.Media attention has focused on the small number of...
doping probe in Spain, this just weeks before the start of the 2006 Tour de France
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....
. On October 2, 2006, Botero was cleared by the disciplinary committee of the Federación Colombiana de Ciclismo (Colombian Cycling Federation). On February 28, 2007, Botero was presented with his new team UNE Orbitel in Bogota, Colombia. He outlined that his ambitions for the year would be to win the Vuelta a Colombia
Vuelta a Colombia
The Vuelta a Colombia is an annual cycling road race, run over many stages throughout different regions in Colombia and sometimes Venezuela during the first days of August. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation.The first Vuelta a Colombia was held in 1951...
, to be the Colombian national champion and a podium place in the UCI World championships individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
event. In August, Botero won the Vuelta a Colombia
Vuelta a Colombia
The Vuelta a Colombia is an annual cycling road race, run over many stages throughout different regions in Colombia and sometimes Venezuela during the first days of August. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation.The first Vuelta a Colombia was held in 1951...
for the first time in his career. He dominated the event by winning the prologue and two stages along the way as well as wearing the leaders jersey for most of the race.