Spanish climber and 2000 Tour de France Best Young Rider Francisco Mancebo Perez has cemented his name in history as the oldest winner of a UCI race, after triumphing in Stage 1 of the Tour du Sahel (2.2) on January 22, 2025 at the age of 48 and 319 days—surpassing the old record by 276 days (over nine months)—moving the goalposts further.
Paco Mancebo rose to prominence in the early 2000s, placing third and fourth overall in the Vuelta a España in 2004 and 2005, respectively. He also secured fourth overall in the 2005 Tour de France, a position which was subsequently revised to third following the disqualification of riders ahead of him.
Four years later, in 2009, Mancebo had a memorable victory by donning the leader’s jersey in the Amgen Tour of California, doing so under Lance Armstrong’s very nose.
A decade later, in 2019, Mancebo once again proved his veteran class by sweeping the GC of the first-ever UCI 2.2 edition of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas in Philippine cycling history at age 42—defying father time. Mancebo Perez first established a colossal time gap of 3 minutes and 52 seconds over the reigning 26-year-old champion Ronald Oranza. Perez nursed the leader’s jersey from start to finish, becoming the second foreign rider after David McCann in Philippine cycling history to achieve such dominance over the local field.
Having retired at 49, Francisco Mancebo Perez concludes his storied cycling career, forever remembered as the oldest UCI race winner in history.
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