Luis Herrera (cyclist)

Summary

Luis Alberto "Lucho" Herrera Herrera, known as "El jardinerito" ("the little gardener"; born May 4, 1961, in Fusagasugá, Colombia), is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. Herrera was a professional from 1985 to 1992 but had a successful amateur career before that in Colombia.

Luis Herrera
Personal information
Full nameLuis Alberto Herrera
NicknameLucho
El jardinerito de Fusagasugá
Born (1961-05-04) May 4, 1961 (age 62)
Fusagasugá, Colombia
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimbing specialist
Amateur teams
1981Valyin de Pereira
1982Lotería de Boyacá
1983Leche La Gran Vía
1984Varta Nacional A
Professional teams
1985–1990Café de Colombia
1991–1992Ryalco Postobon
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
Mountains classification (1985, 1987)
3 individual stages (1984, 1985)
Giro d'Italia
Mountains classification (1989)
3 individual stages (1989, 1992)
Vuelta a España
General classification (1987)
Mountains classification (1987, 1991)
2 individual stages (1987, 1991)

Stage races

Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1988, 1991)
Vuelta a Colombia (1984, 1985, 1986, 1988)
Clásico RCN (1982, 1983, 1984, 1986)

He entered his first Vuelta a Colombia in 1981 where he finished 16th overall and 3rd in the New Rider competition.[1] Although he abandoned his second Vuelta a Colombia in 1982, he won Colombia's second major stage-race, the Clásico RCN. In 1983 Herrera won Clásico RCN again as well as two stages and finished second overall to Alfonso Florez Ortiz in the 1983 Vuelta a Colombia.[2] In 1984 he won the Vuelta a Colombia, the Clásico RCN as well as winning stage 17 to Alpe d'Huez in the 1984 Tour de France, becoming the first Colombian to win a stage of the race, and the first amateur cyclist to win a stage in the history of the Tour de France. He won the Vuelta a Colombia and the Clásico RCN four times each but his greatest achievement was in 1987, when he won the Vuelta a España, the first South American to win a Grand Tour.[3] Herrera also won the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré in 1988 and 1991 and five "King of the Mountains" jerseys from the three Grand Tours.

Luis Herrera is the second rider to win the King of the Mountains jersey in all three Grand Tours. The first was Federico Bahamontes of Spain.

Career achievements edit

Major results edit

1981
1st Stage 5 Clásico RCN
1982
1st   Overall Clásico RCN
1st Stages 2, 7 & 10
4th Overall Tour de l'Avenir
1st Stage 10
1983
1st   Overall Clásico RCN
1st Stage 8
Coors Classic
1st Stages 1 & 3
1st Stage 6b Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
2nd Overall Vuelta a Colombia
1st Stages 9 & 14
1984
1st   Overall Clásico RCN
1st Stage 8
1st   Overall Vuelta a Colombia
1st Stages 6, 9 & 10
1st Stage 17 Tour de France
1985
1st   Overall Vuelta a Colombia
1st Stages 5 & 8
2nd Overall Clásico RCN
7th Overall Tour de France
1st   Mountains classification
1st Stages 11 & 14
1986
1st   Overall Clásico RCN
1st Prologue, Stages 2 & 4 (ITT)
1st   Overall Vuelta a Colombia
1st Stage 6
1987
1st   Overall Vuelta a España
1st   Mountains classification
1st Stage 11
2nd Overall Vuelta a Colombia
1st Prologue
5th Overall Tour de France
1st   Mountains classification
1988
1st   Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stage 6b
1st   Overall Vuelta a Colombia
1st Stages 2 & 11
6th Overall Tour de France
1989
Giro d'Italia
1st   Mountains classification
1st Stages 13 & 18 (ITT)
1990
4th Overall Clásico RCN
1st Prologue
1991
1st   Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Stage 5
Vuelta a España
1st   Mountains classification
1st Stage 16
1st Stage 6 Volta a Catalunya
6th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
9th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
1992
1st   Overall Vuelta a Aragón
1st Stage 5
1st Prologue Vuelta a Colombia
8th Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 9

Grand Tour general classification results timeline edit

Grand Tour 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
  Vuelta a España DNF 1 20 12 13 DNF
  Giro d'Italia 18 8
  Tour de France 27 7 22 5 6 19 31
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References edit

  1. ^ "31a Vuelta a Colombia 1981". Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
  2. ^ "33a Vuelta a Colombia". Archived from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
  3. ^ "Luis Herrera: Ex-cyclist says sun exposure caused his skin cancer". BBC Sport. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2017.

External links edit

  • Luis Herrera at Cycling Archives