Álvaro Mejía (cyclist)

Álvaro Mejía
Personal information
Full name	Álvaro Mejía Castrillón
Nickname	El Cometa
Born	January 19, 1967 (age 55); Santa Rosa de Cabal, Colombia
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road and mountain biking
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Amateur team
1988	Castalia
Professional teams
1989–1992	Postobón–Manzana
1993–1995	Motorola
1997	Petroleo de Colombia
Major wins
	Tour de France, young rider classification (1991); Volta a Catalunya (1993)

Álvaro Mejía Castrillón (born January 19, 1967 in Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda Department) is a Colombian former professional road cyclist.^[2]

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.^[1] 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.^[1]