Raúl Marcelo Vázquez

As one of the greats of Cuban cycling Raúl Marcelo Vázquez won multiple races at home, won four medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games, and competed at three Olympics. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Vázquez rode in multiple editions of the Vuelta a Cuba, winning his first stage at the 1967 race, before eventually winning the overall classification in 1971. In Cuba he won 13 stages of the Vuelta during his career, became the national road race champion in 1976, and captured national titles on the track.

In 1968 Vázquez made his first of three appearances at the Olympics, competing on both the road and track at the Mexico City Games, finishing 24th in the track time trial. Four years later he participated in both the road race and team time trial at the München Games, in addition to featuring in the team pursuit. His final Olympics came in 1976 in Montréal, where he placed 14th in the team time trial and 17th in the individual pursuit.

Although Vázquez did not win a medal at the Olympics, he had better success at the Central American and Caribbean Games. At the 1970 Games in Panamá, he won silver in the 4,000 metres team pursuit and bronze in the 1,000 metres time trial. Four years later he won gold in the team pursuit and silver in the 4,000 metres individual pursuit at the Santo Domingo Games. Vázquez also won gold in the team time trial and silver in the individual pursuit at the 1976 Pan American Cycling Championships in San Cristóbal.