Café de Colombia
# Café de Colombia

Café de Colombia (UCI team code: CAF) was a Colombian based professional road bicycle racing Cycling team active from 1983 to 1990. The team was sponsored by the Colombian coffee growers Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia.

## History

The team came into existence just as Colombian cyclists were achieving successes in Europe. This started with a Colombian National Cycling team entering and winning the Tour de l'Avenir in 1980 with Alfonso Flórez. The 1983 Tour de France was the first time that the race was "open" to accommodate amateurs to compete. As a result, the Colombian cyclists were able to compete in a Colombian national cycling team. The following year the Colombian national team, with sponsorship from VARTA batteries, returned to the 1984 Tour de France where Luis Herrera, still an amateur, won the stage to the Alpe d'Huez. After these successes, a professional cycling team was set up that would give contracts and a chance of success in Europe to Colombian cyclists. In 1985 this team was called Varta–Café de Colombia–Mavic and had as manager José Raúl Meza Orozco. The team was composed of 24 riders from Colombia, 20 of which Café de Colombia had given them their first professional contracts, which included Luis Herrera and Fabio Parra.

The following year Raphaël Géminiani was team manager together with Jorge Humberto Tenjo Porras. In 1987 the team, under the guidance of team manager Rafael Antonio Niño and directeur sportif Roberto Sánchez, obtained perhaps its greatest success in 1987 when Luis Herrera won the Vuelta a España. Pedro Pablo Valdivieso Ayala and José Gabriel Castro Medina would also be directeur sportifs with the team. The team stopped after 1990.

## Major wins

### 1985

    Stage 8 Tour de l'Avenir
    Stage 7 Vuelta a España
    Stage 11, 14 and Mountains classification 1985 Tour de France
    Stage 3 Dauphiné Libéré
    General classification Clásico RCN

### 1986

    General classification Vuelta a la Costa
    General classification Clásico RCN

### 1987

    Stage 6 Dauphiné Libéré
    General classification Clásico RCN
    General classification, one stage and Mountains classification Vuelta a España

### 1988

    General classification Dauphiné Libéré
    Clasico Centenario de Armenia
    Stage 1 Vuelta Americas
    Stage 2 part b Vuelta al Táchira
    Stage 3, 7a and General classification Postgirot Open
    General classification Tour of the Americas

### 1990

    Clasica Duitama
