Oscar Sevilla will celebrate his 48th birthday next September, still competing as a professional racer, after the Spaniard confirmed he will extend his 25-year career into 2024.
A member of the Colombian Medellín-EPM Continental team since 2017, Sevilla turned pro in 1998 with the long-defunct Kelme team, with his best result second overall in the Vuelta a España in 2001. Sevilla was named as a client of Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes in the Operacion Puerto blood doping investigation but raced on even after being sacked by T-Mobile, joining Relax-Gam and then Rock Racing in the USA.
He tested positive for Hydroxyethyl Starch (HES) – a plasma volume expander that is said to act as a masking agent for blood doping in his first season in Colombia in 2010 and his original six-month ban was eventually increased to 12 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He has raced in Colombia since making a comeback in 2011.
While others of his generation have long since hung up their wheels, Sevilla has forged on.
His total of five UCI-ranked wins in the 2023 season, including the overall of the Tour of Hainan, makes him the most prolifically successful Spanish pro of the year in events classified as 1.2 or 2.2 or higher. He also won four national-ranked races this year.
Sevilla recently confirmed to Revista Mundo Ciclístico that he will push on for another season in 2024, although he is doubtful he can win as much as in 2023.
“I’ll continue racing with Team Medellín-EPM, right now we’re organising the calendar, the races, as we don’t know who else is going to form part of the 2024 team yet,” Sevilla said.
“I took a very short break in the off-season, because right now that’s better for me. So I’m moving on with the physical preparation, gym work and running as part of my build-up for 2024.”
“I think I take every year on a month-by-month basis, enjoying what I most like doing, which is riding my bike and contributing to the team’s success. I hope it’ll be a good year.”
With successes from February in Colombia to the Tour of Hainan in October, Sevilla described his season as “a very consistent one throughout. I was lucky to stay healthy and not get sick all the way through, and with good planning it was an exceptional year for me and Team Medellín-EPM.” .
“It’s going to be difficult to repeat 2023, because it was an amazing year in terms of results. But we hope it’ll be a good one and we finish it feeling satisfied with what I’ve done.”
Sevilla’s status as Spain’s oldest pro in the current peloton in 2024 has yet to be confirmed. According to Ciclo21, Paco Mancebo, Sevilla’s senior by six months, a pro since 1998 and currently racing in the Conti-registered Matrix Powertag team, has not yet made it clear if he will continue next season.
