Mauricio Soler
 |
|
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Juan Mauricio Soler Hernández |
| Nickname | El Lancero |
| Born |
January 14, 1983 Ramiriquí, Colombia |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) |
| Weight | 70 kg (150 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climbing specialist |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2006 | Acqua & Sapone |
| 2007–2009 | Barloworld |
| 2010–2011 | Caisse d'Epargne |
| Major wins | |
| 1 Stage Tour de France 2007 Tour de France, King of the Mountains (2007) Circuit de Lorraine (2006) 1 Stage Tour de Suisse 2011 |
|
Juan Mauricio Soler Hernández (born January 14, 1983 in Ramiriquí, Boyacá) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer, who last rode for UCI ProTour team Movistar Team. 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." 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.
Soler made his Tour debut in the 2007 Tour de France, where he won the ninth stage, and won the mountains classification.
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.
Having made the switch to the Caisse D'Epargne team in 2010, he was due to compete in that year's Tour de France, his first in two seasons, and was favoured to be among the top 20 riders. However, due to a knee injury sustained following a crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné, he was not fit to take part in the Tour de France.
After his long history of injuries and illnesses, Soler won his first race in four years Sunday 12 June 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; Soler and his team were poised compete in the Tour de France in July.
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