Abraham Olano

Abraham Olano
Personal information
Full name Abraham Olano Manzano
Born (1970-01-22) January 22, 1970
Anoeta, Spain
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight 70 kg (150 lb; 11 st)
Team information
Current team Retired
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Time-trialist
Amateur team(s)
- Kaiku, AVSA
Professional team(s)
1992 CHCS
1992 Lotus
1993 CLAS Cajastur
1994–1997 Mapei
1997–1998 Banesto
1999–2001 ONCE
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
1 Stage
Vuelta a España
General Classification (1998)
5 Stages

One-day races and Classics

World Road Race Champion (1995)
World Time Trial Champion (1998)
National Road Race Champion (1994)
National Time Trial Champion (1994, 1998)
Infobox last updated on
20 February 2009

Abraham Olano Manzano (born January 22, 1970 in Anoeta, Gipuzkoa) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. His highest achievement was in 1995 when he became World Road Champion. In 1998 he won the World Time Trial Championship.

Amateur career

Olano started racing 11 years old at the Oria Cycling school, and already at junior level he won several races.[1] Later, Olano went to track racing. He became Spanish Champion in pursuit (together with Etxegoyen, Pérez and Juárez), in the 1 km with standing start and in sprint.[1] In road racing, he started as an amateur for Kaiku and AVSA. He was specialized in sprinting.

Professional career

In 1992, Olano started his professional career at CHCS. This team shortly after disbanded, and he moved to Lotus. With Lotus, Olano won his first professional race, the Gran Premio de Villafranca de Ordizia in Gipuzkoa.[1]

In 1993, Olano switched to CLAS Cajastur, which was later merged with Mapei. Here, he started to win important races, such as the Vuelta a Asturias and the Spanish National Road Race Championships, both in road race and time trial.

In 1995, Olano won three stages in the Vuelta a España, finishing second in overall classification to Laurent Jalabert.[1] Later in the year Olano was a vital part of a hugely successful Spanish team at the World Cycling Championship in Colombia. In the time trial, Olano took silver, finishing second to Miguel Indurain. In the Road race, the top two positions was reversed, with Olano taking the Championship and Indurain silver. The route was one of the hardest courses ever for a World Championship, and Olano showed his stamina by riding the last kilometer solo with a flat tyre.

On account of results and some physical similarities, Olano was seen by many supporters as the successor to five-times Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain.

Olano established his abilities in stage races in 1996; he won the Tour de Romandie, finished third in the Giro d'Italia (leading the race at the second to last day), and finished ninth in the Tour de France. He also won the silver medal in the time trial at the 1996 Olympic Games.[1]

Olano finished fourth in the 1997 Tour de France, taking 1 stage win - a long time trial in Disneyland, ahead of the eventual Tour winner Jan Ullrich.

In 1998, Olano won his only grand tour, the Vuelta a España.[1] Despite the victory, Olano was reportedly not happy with the support from the Banesto team and management. Banestos mountain specialist José Maria Jimenez took 4 stage wins, on several occasions leaving Olano alone on the climbs, and even taking the Yellow Jersey from his team captain. Olano won back the jersey on the second time trial, but the events and subsequent media speculation soured his relationship with Banesto, and he decided for a switch to the ONCE team for the following season.

Olano finished 1998 in style, winning the World Championship Time Trial i Valkenburg, ahead of compatriot Melcior Mauri. Olano is the only male rider of the modern era to win the world Championship in both the Road race (1995) and the time trial (1998).

In 1999, Olano was back to defend the Vuelta title. In the prologue, severe rains put the late starters (including most of the GC contenders) at a big disadvantage, but Olano nevertheless managed to take 2nd place. In the stage 7 time trial, Olano won with a clear margin, taking the top spot on the GC and the Yellow Jersey. Olano defended his lead through several mountain stages, but a crash on the stage to Alto de Angliru cost him a broken rib, and he was eventually forced to abandon the race.

Olano would make his last mark at the grand Tours with a 2nd place in the 2001 Giro d'Italia.[1]

Doping revelations

Olano is one of the people responsible for designing stages for the Vuelta a España.[1] He was fired from this position after a report from the French senate revealed that he had delivered a suspicious sample during the 1998 Tour de France, indicating use of EPO.[2]

In November 2006 he ran the San Sebastian marathon in a time of 2:39:19.

Major achievements

1994
Spain Winner, Spanish National Road Race Championships
Spain Winner, Spanish National Time Trial Championships
Clásica de Alcobendas
Vuelta a Asturias
1995
Winner, Road Race World Championship
Vuelta a España:
Winner 3 stages
2nd place overall classification
1996
Olympic Games
2nd 2nd place ITT
Giro d'Italia:
3rd place overall classification
Tour de France:
9th place overall classification
Tour de Romandie
Tour of Galicia
1997
Tour de France:
4th place overall classification
winner 1 stage
Bicicleta Vasca
Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
1998
Winner, Time Trial World Championship
Spain Winner, Spanish National Time Trial Championships
Vuelta a España:
Winner
Won 1 stage
Bicicleta Vasca
Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
1999
Vuelta a España:
Winner 1 stage
Vuelta a Burgos
2000
Vuelta a España:
Winner 1 stage
Tirreno–Adriatico
Critérium International
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
2001
Giro d'Italia:
2nd place overall classification
Clásica de Alcobendas

Grand Tours overall classification results timeline

Grand Tour 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Pink jersey Giro - - - 3 - - - - 2 -
Yellow jersey Tour WD 30 - 9 4 WD 6 34 - 78
gold jersey Vuelta - 20 2 - WD 1 WD 19 64 -

WD = Withdrew

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Abraham Olano". Giant Tours.
  2. ↑ "Zabel "geht in sich", Olano gefeuert" (in German). Eurosport. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.