Carlos Betancur

Carlos Betancur

Betancur at the 2011 Giro d'Italia
Personal information
Full name Carlos Alberto Betancur Gómez
Born October 13, 1989
Ciudad Bolívar, Colombia
Height 1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in)
Weight 60 kg (130 lb)[1]
Team information
Current team Ag2r-La Mondiale
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Climber
Professional team(s)
2011–2012 Acqua & Sapone
2013– Ag2r-La Mondiale
Major wins

Grand Tours

Giro d'Italia
Young rider classification (2013)

Stage races

Paris–Nice (2014)

Single-day races and Classics

Giro dell'Emilia (2011)
Infobox last updated on
26 July 2014
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Betancur and the second or maternal family name is Gómez.

Carlos Alberto Betancur Gómez (born 13 October 1989) is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist, currently riding for Ag2r-La Mondiale.[2]

Career

In 2010 he won the Girobio stage race; the amateur version of the Giro d'Italia; and in 2011 he won his first professional race at the Giro dell'Emilia.

Betancur had been scheduled to join the Liquigas-Cannondale team in 2012,[3] but remained with Acqua & Sapone.[4] Betancur left Acqua & Sapone at the end of the 2012 season, and joined Ag2r-La Mondiale on a two-year contract from the 2013 season onwards.[2]

He started his 2013 with a seventh-place finish at the Tour of the Basque Country, including a second place on stage 3.[5] He went on to light up the Ardennes Classics, coming 3rd at the Fleche Wallone after an early attack with just over 500m to go[6] and a 4th place in Liege Baston Liege, where it was his attack which created the final select group of six who contested the finish.[7]

After a 12th-place finish at the Tour de Romandie, Betancur went in to the Giro as an outsider for a top 10 GC position. Initially things went poorly, as he lost time on the descent of stage 3 and on the long time trial of stage 8, by the end of which he was down in 28th position, 6.08 down on the leader and eventual winner Nibali.[8] However, following second places on stages 9,[9] 10,[10] and 15,[11] and some brilliant performances in the other mountain stages, he worked himself up to 7th place and just two seconds off the white jersey for the best young rider (which he had actually gained on stage 15, but lost in the stage 18 time trial) by the penultimate stage. On the final mountain stage, although he punctured at the bottom of the final climb, he managed to catch up and overtake most of his GC rivals, finishing 4th on the day. He ended the Giro as best young rider and 5th in the general Classification.[12]

In December 2013, Betancur confirmed he would be focusing on the Tour de France for 2014. However, he failed to fly from his training base in Colombia to France on June 3, blaming a viral infection, and changed his target to the Vuelta a España.[13]

Palmares

2009
1st Overall Vuelta a Colombia Sub-23
1st Stage 4
2nd Road World Championships U23
2010
1st Overall Girobio
1st Stages 4 & 5
1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Colombia
2011
1st Giro dell'Emilia
9th Giro di Lombardia
2012
1st Trofeo Melinda
1st Stage 5 Tour of Belgium
1st Stage 5 Giro di Padania
4th Overall Giro del Trentino
1st Young rider classification
4th Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
2013
3rd La Flèche Wallonne
4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
5th Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Young rider classification
7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
2014
1st Overall Paris–Nice
1st Young rider classification
1st Stages 5 & 6
1st Overall Tour du Haut Var
1st Points classification
1st Stage 1

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2011 2012 2013 2014
Pink jersey Giro 59 - 5 -
Yellow jersey Tour - - - -
red jersey Vuelta - - 126 158

WD = Withdrew; IP = In Progress

Other major stage races

Race 2013 2014 2015
Paris–Nice  – 1  –
Tirreno–Adriatico  –  – 116
Volta a Catalunya 46 DNS  –
Tour of the Basque Country 7 DNF  –
Tour de Romandie 13  –  –
Critérium du Dauphiné  –  –  –
Tour de Suisse  –  –  –

References

  1. ↑ In 2010 at Girobio
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Appollonio and Betancur sign for Ag2R-La Mondiale". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). 2 August 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Liquigas-Cannondale Confirms Betancur For 2012 Roster". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  4. ↑ "Garzelli considers retirement after Giro d'Italia exclusion". Cycling News (Future Publishing Limited). 10 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012. Garzelli revealed that he had planned to retire after racing one last Giro d'Italia, and had hoped to win a 10th stage or another green mountains classification jersey, and that he was prepared to give his best for his final race. He had hoped to pass his knowledge onto his young teammate Carlos Betancur.
  5. ↑ "Henao narrowly edges out Betancur for Vuelta al Pais Vasco stage win". Velonation.com. 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  6. ↑ Cycling. "La Flèche Wallonne 2013: Daniel Moreno triumphs on Mur de Huy while Marianne Vos wins women's edition". Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  7. ↑ Alasdair Fotheringham (2013-04-21). "Dan Martin Takes Breakthrough Classics Win In Liege-Bastogne-Liege". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  8. ↑ ProCyclingStats. "Giro d´Italia 2013 Time Trial: Gabicce Mare " Saltara". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  9. ↑ "Maxim Belkov takes solo win in Giro d'Italia stage nine | Latest News". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  10. ↑ "Rigoberto Uran wins Giro stage 10 as Wiggins and Hesjedal lose time | Latest News". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  11. ↑ "Giovanni Visconti wins Giro d'Italia's Col du Galibier stage | Latest News". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  12. ↑ Stephen Farrand (2013-05-25). "Betancur Takes Back The White Jersey At The Giro D'Italia". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  13. ↑ Stephen Farrand (2014-06-12). "Report: Betancur to miss the Tour de France due to virus". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2014-07-26.

External links

Media related to Carlos Betancur at Wikimedia Commons