The Colombian cyclist Marlon Alirio Pérez, youth champion of the points race in the 1994 World Cup in Ecuador, has died in a hospital in Antioquia, after being the victim of an armed robbery where he They caused several stab wounds to the neck, as reported this Friday by the Colombian Olympic Committee.
“The Colombian Police and the Prosecutor’s Office assumed the investigation that will quickly clarify, the murder of Marlón Pérez, a glory of Antioquia sports”, reported the governor of Antioquia, Andrés Julián Rendón, on his X account (formerly Twitter).
Rendón added that Pérez, 48 years old and born in the town of Támesis, “was found on a public road in Carmen de Viboral with a stab wound. “He was very sorry for this news and sent a sincere hug to his family.”
The Colombian Cycling Federation also regretted the incident and said in a statement that Pérez “an outstanding cyclist and former world champion in track and para-cycling, who sadly lost his life in an incident.” violent during an attempted robbery on Thursday night.
Pérez was world champion of the points event in 1994; tandem para-cycling world champion as Javier Serna’s guide in 2017 and Pan American champion of the time trial at the 2011 Guadalajara Pan American Games.
He was also a three-time national time trial champion and won six stages in the Vuelta a Colombia, He also represented the country in three Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004) and in one Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020).
In the Classic RCN he triumphed in five stages and three of the Vuelta al Táchira (Venezuela). He participated in the Giro d’Italia in 2004, 2005 and 2008.
Pérez is also remembered because he managed the arrival of several riders to European teams. One of them was Rigoberto Urán, who arrived at Tenax, from Italy, in 2006, With which he began his career in elite cycling, in which he achieved two second places in the Giro d’Italia in 2013 and 2014, as well as another second place in the Tour de France in 2017.
