Mauricio Soler
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Mauricio Soler Hernández | ||
| Nickname | El Lancero | ||
| Born | January 14, 1983 Ramiriquí, Colombia |
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| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3) | ||
| Weight | 70 kg (154 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | Climbing specialist | ||
| Professional team(s) | |||
| 2006 2007–2009 2010–2011 |
Acqua & Sapone Barloworld Caisse d'Epargne |
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| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on 4 January 2012 |
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Juan Mauricio Soler Hernández (born January 14, 1983 in Ramiriquí, Boyacá) is a Colombian professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTour team Movistar Team.[1] He competed in the Tour de France for the first time in 2007, winning stage 9 having broken away on the Col du Galibier. He won that year's King of the Mountains title. Soler stated the stage win was "a victory from heaven. It is the biggest win of my life, and in my first Tour de France. I didn't think it would come so quickly."[2] He finished 11th overall that year.
Soler began racing at the age of 17, he stated a race in his village is what made him decide to become a professional cyclist. Upon becoming a professional, Soler spent a year racing in his native Colombia and soon after joined the Acqua & Sapone team where he was guided by Claudio Corti, who later brought him to the Barloworld team.[3]
Soler's 2008 tour dreams were shattered, after having crashed in the final kilometers of the first stage. He was forced to drop out after a CT scan showed a microfracture in his wrist.
He made the switch to the Caisse D'Epargne team in 2010, and will compete in the Tour de France for the first time in two seasons, and hopefully his first full tour since 2007. He is favoured to be among the top 15–20 riders in the Tour De France.
Due to a knee injury he got following a crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné he was unable to be fit for the Tour De France 2010 and was therefore not part of the starters for Caisse D'Epargne.[4]
After his long history of injuries and illnesses, Soler won his first race in four years on Sunday, June 12, 2011 by winning stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse with its difficult mountain top finish. It marked a return to his status as a world class climber and Soler and his team were poised compete in the Tour de France in July.[5]
Early in stage six on Thursday, June 16, 2011, while in second place overall in the race, riding with the peloton in a downhill section at about fifty miles per hour Soler hit a small raised piece of curbing from an adjacent foot path, hit a spectator, was thrown into a solid fence and was gravely injured. He suffered a fractured skull and a cerebral edema, and other fractures and hematomas. Soler has been placed in a medically induced coma. Two days after the crash Soler has shown signs of improvement but is still in the coma.[6] [7][8][9] By July 8, 2011, Soler's condition had stabilized enough for a move to Spain to be considered but doctors report he's showing signs of "serious cognitive deficits" due to his head injury.[10]
[edit] Victories
- 2006
- 1st Overall Circuit de Lorraine
- 1st Stage 2
- 2007
- 1st Stage 9 Tour de France:
- 1st
King of the Mountains
- 1st
- 1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 2
- 2008
- 2nd overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 2009
- 2nd Overall Settimana Lombarda
- 4th Stage 4 Giro d'Italia
- 2011
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse
[edit] References
- ^ Andrew Hood (2009-08-17). "Soler signs with Caisse d’Epargne". VeloNews. http://www.velonews.com/article/96750. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
- ^ "Colombian rookie wins stage nine of the Tour de France". Monsters and Critics. July 17, 2007. http://sport.monstersandcritics.com/othersport/article_1331239.php/Colombian_rookie_wins_stage_nine_of_the_Tour_de_France.
- ^ "Soler's dream come true with Tour stage win". EITB24. July 17, 2007. http://www.eitb24.com/new/en/B24_58025/sports/TOUR-FRANCE-9TH-STAGE-Solers-dream-come-true-with-Tour/.
- ^ "Knee injury puts Mauricio Soler’s Tour de France in doubt". VeloNews. June 10, 2010. http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/06/news/knee-injury-puts-mauricio-solers-tour-de-france-in-doubt_120621/.
- ^ http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/75th-tour-de-suisse-upt/stage-2/results
- ^ "Juan Mauricio Soler's condition continues to improve after crash". The Guardian (London). June 18, 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jun/18/juan-mauricio-soler-crash.
- ^ Associated Press (2011-06-16). "Cyclist Juan Mauricio Soler in hospital with brain injuries after crash". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jun/16/juan-mauricio-soler-tour-switzerland.
- ^ http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/soler-airlifted-from-tour-de-suisse-after-crash
- ^ http://www.tampabay.com/sports/sports-in-brief-cyclist-hit-curb-spectator-before-crashing-into-fence/1176060
- ^ http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/soler-showing-signs-of-serious-cognitive-deficits
[edit] External links
- Profile at Barloworld official website
- Mauricio Soler at Trap-Friis.dk
