Nickname El Cometa 1993–1995 Motorola Current team Retired Name Alvaro Mejia | Discipline Road Role Bicycler 1989–1992 Postobon-Manzana | |
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Full name Alvaro Mejia Castrillon Born January 19, 1967 (age 57)
Santa Rosa de Cabal, Colombia ( 1967-01-19 ) Similar People Fabio Parra, Oliverio Rincon, Luis Herrera, Rafael Antonio Nino, Hernan Buenahora | ||
Álvaro Mejía Castrillón (born January 19, 1967 in Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda Department) is a Colombian former road bicycle racer.
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.