Ramón Hoyos Vallejo

Infobox Cyclist
ridername = Ramón Hoyos Vallejo


fullname = Ramón Hoyos Vallejo
nickname = El Escarabajo
Don Ramón de Marinilla
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1932|05|26
country = COL
currentteam = Retired
discipline = Road
role = Rider
ridertype = Climbing specialist
amateurteams =
amateuryears =
proyears =
proteams =
majorwins = Vuelta a Colombia (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958)

updated = August 10, 2007

Ramón Hoyos Vallejo (born May 26, 1932 in Marinill in Medellín, Colombia) is a retired Colombian road racing cyclist. He won the biggest stage race in Colombia, the Vuelta a Colombia, five times and was the first cyclist to dominate the event which earned him the status of a legend. [cite web|url=http://www.jet.com.co/ingles/eventos_vuelta_colombia.htm|title=History of Vuelta a Colombia|publisher=Companio Nacional de Chocolates|accessdate=2007-08-10] Hoyos rode his first Vuelta a Colombia in 1952 where he was sponsored by Don Ramiro Mejia. The following year he returned as captain of the strong Antioquia team with whom he would win five editions of the race and 38 stages. [cite book|last=Rendell|first=Matt|title=Kings of the Mountains|id=ISBN 1-85410-837-9|date=2002] In 1955, Gabriel García Márquez wrote his biography. It has been said that Hoyos was so popular that he received 100 letters a day during the 1950’s when his battles with fellow Colombian and the first champion of the Vuelta a Colombia, Efraín Forero, reached the hysteria of the battles of the famous Italian cyclists Coppi-Bartali in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France of the post-war years. [cite web|url=http://www.sportgeschiedenis.nl/2007/07/16/gabriel-garcia-marquez-en-een-wielrenner-uit-colombia.aspx|title=Gabriel Garcia Marquez en een wielrenner uit Colombia|publisher=Sportgeschiedenis.nl|accessdate=2007-08-10] Hoyos came thirteenth in the 1956 Olympic Road race.

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