The 21-year-old became the first Colombian to ride in the Lloyds Tour of Britain last week, finishing second in the young rider classification
Colombia have been a nation on the rise in road cycling over the last decade, and Juliana Londoño is on a mission to bring that legacy to the women’s tour.
The 21-year-old became the first Colombian to ride in the Lloyds Tour of Britain last week, finishing second in the young rider classification.
And while Nairo Quintana and Egan Bernal have become established names making history for the nation on the men’s tour, Londoño has had limited role models on the women’s side.
“I’m really grateful to be the first Colombian. I didn’t know that I was [before I arrived], but being here and representing Colombia is good for me,” said the Team Picnic PostNL rider.
“We are well-represented in the men’s but in the women’s, there is only one other rider who races in Europe. My career has risen quite fast to be in Europe and for me it is also important to help to grow women’s cycling.”
Londoño has been riding in the European tour since 2024, making her just one of two Colombian women to do so.
Paula Patiño, who most recently withdrew from the 2026 edition of the Tour de France Femmes before the final stage, represents the only other Colombian representation in Europe.
The 29-year-old’s best result came in 2020 when she finished eighth overall in the Giro D’Italia. It is a vast difference from the status fellow Movistar rider Quintana and Netcompany-Ineos’ Bernal have earned on the men’s tour.
After Quintana had taken GC victories in the Giro D’Italia and Vuelta a España with his famed climbing ability, Bernal became the first South American to win the Tour de France in 2019. But in Londoño, Colombia have a potential rising star ready to carve out Colombia’s place on the women’s road cycling map.
The youngster beat British prospects Imogen Wolff and Morven Yeoman, as well as British national champion Zoe Bäckstedt, in the young rider category last week despite finishing over eight minutes behind the white jersey winner Fleur Moors. She also finished in the top ten on stage two, while delivering team lead rider Josie Nelson to a top ten finish in the general classification.
The second-place finish in the white jersey contest represented her best at a UCI Women’s WorldTour race, having finished 18th in the classification at the Vuelta a España earlier this year.
It is by no means a guarantee of future success, but it offers promising signs for a rider who was contending with test of variable British weather and accompanying country lanes for the first time.
“It’s quite fun and quite different kinds of roads from what I’m used to. It’s also different in the peloton because most of the time it’s narrow roads with a lot of corners,” she said.
“But I really like these kinds of tests. Like the weather at the start was quite bad for me but I’ve really enjoyed this race.”
And despite slightly broken English, her answer to whether she wanted to leave a legacy in Colombian cycling was crystal clear: “Yes.”
British Cycling is inspiring riders and fans across the country through the Lloyds Tour of Britain, bringing the sport to life and celebrating the joy of cycling through Britain’s biggest free-to-spectate cycling event. Visit britishcycling.org.uk