The Tour dream of drug lord Escobar
By RAYMOND KERCKHOFFS

Updated 1 hour ago
Today, 06:44 in WHEEL RIDING

MEDELLIN / BAGNÈRES - DRUG baron Pablo Escobar tried to participate in the Tour de France with his own Colombian cycling team in the golden years of his Medellin cartel. That explains his brother Roberto Escobar, who is three years older than him, in an exclusive interview with De Telegraaf that appears on Saturday.


Roberto Escobar, the brother of Pablo Escobar, makes a striking revelation: "Our dream was to participate in the Tour de France with the first Colombian cycling team in history."

As children, the brothers Roberto and Pablo Escobar fall under the spell of cycling when they see their local cycling hero Ramon Hóyes defeat the European stars Fausto Coppi and Hugo Koblet on a climb near Medellin. Later both brothers cycle on the steep streets of the Colombian metropolis and dream that they will ride the Tour de France.

Roberto Escobar opts for the sport and grows to become the third best cyclist in his country in the late 1960s, while Pablo develops into El Patrón in the global drug trade. Later both started the Ositto bicycle brand, which is mainly abused to launder money. With this Roberto makes his appearance as the accountant of the Medellin cartel.

Cocaine bikes
When Pablo Escobar wants to go for the presidency of Colombia, both brothers set up their own cycling team in the late 1970s to promote his campaign: the 'Pablo Escobar Renovacion Liberal' team. "Our dream was to participate in the Tour de France with the first Colombian cycling team in history," reveals the now 72-year-old Roberto. "We wanted to give Colombian talents a chance in the most important race." It is probably no coincidence that a number of Colombian cyclists will be stopped later in Europe while their bicycle tubes are full of cocaine.

The best rider of the Escobar team, Gonzalo Marín, grows to be one of the cartel's most feared criminals after his short active career. Marín is designated as the perpetrator of the terrorist bombing of the building of the Colombian security service in Bogota, where 52 people were killed.

Close the cash tap
When Pablo Escobar's political career gets stuck because his drug trafficking for the congress is proven, the money for the cycling team closes. There is also a conflict with the chairman of the Colombian cycling federation Miguél Angel Bermudez during that period, who is also busy lobbying to get a team with the Eagles of the Andes in the Tour de France. Bermudez barely survives a bomb attack in his car, which is linked to the Medellin cartel. Bermudez nevertheless managed to get a Colombian amateur team to the start of the Tour for the first time in 1983.

Out of sheer frustration, the Escobar brothers are building a private cycling track near the El Tesoro shopping center in Medellin where the world's best cyclists are invited to private competitions.