Mikel Nieve
 Nieve at the 2010 Four Days of Dunkirk. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Mikel Nieve Iturralde |
| Nickname | Frosty |
| Born |
26 May 1984 Leitza, Spain |
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb; 10.6 st) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Team Sky |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Climber |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 2008 | Orbea-Oreka SDA |
| 2009–2013 | Euskaltel–Euskadi |
| 2014– | Team Sky |
| Major wins | |
| |
|
Infobox last updated on 19 March 2014 | |
Mikel Nieve Iturralde (born 26 May 1984 in Leitza) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team Team Sky.[1]
Career
Nieve won the sixteenth stage of the 2010 Vuelta a España, shaking off four riders to win solo in the mountain finish at the Alto de Cotobello.[2] He earned another prestigious victory in the fifteenth stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia, the queen stage of that year's edition, which Alberto Contador later described as the most difficult stage of his life.[3] Nieve had broken away early, and crested the penultimate climb of the day, the Passo Fedaia, with only Stefano Garzelli in front of him. On the lower slope of the ultimate climb to Gardeccia-Val di Fassa, Nieve passed Garzelli, and held on to win the stage after having spent a little less than 7 hours and a half in the saddle.[4]
He finished 10th twice in the Giro d'Italia in 2011 and 2012. He also finished 10th twice in the Vuelta a Espana in 2010 and 2011.
In 2013,[5] Nieve rode his first Tour de France, where he finished 3rd on Mont Ventoux and 9th on Alpe d'Huez. He ended up finishing 12th overall. After the disbanding of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team was confirmed at the end of the 2013 season, Nieve agreed to join Team Sky on a two year deal.[1]
In 2014, he won stage 8, the final stage of the Criterium du Dauphine as well as finishing 8th overall.
Palmarès
- 2008
- 3rd Overall Cinturó de l'Empordà
- 2009
- 7th Trofeo Inca
- 7th Overall Vuelta a Mallorca
- 2010
- 4th Trofeo Inca
- 7th Giro di Lombardia
- 10th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 16
- 2011
- 8th Gran Premio Llodio
- 10th Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Stage 15
- 10th Overall Vuelta a España
- 10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 2012
- 5th Overall Tour de Suisse
- 10th Overall Giro d'Italia
- 2013
- 4th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 2014
- 4th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
- 1st Stage 8
- 10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
Combativity award Stage 18 Tour de France- 2015
- 2nd Overall Tour of Slovenia
- 4th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 6th Giro di Lombardia
- 8th Overall Vuelta a España
- 10th Overall Tour de Pologne
- 2016
- 10th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
Grand Tour General Classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro |
— | 10 | 10 | — | — | 17 |
 Tour |
— | — | — | 12 | 18 | — |
 Vuelta |
10 | 10 | — | 23 | 12 | 8 |
References
- 1 2 Brown, Gregor (1 October 2013). "Sky rescues Nieve while other Euskaltel riders search for jobs". VeloNews (Competitor Group, Inc.). Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- ↑ "Vuelta a España 2010: Mikel Nieve wins stage 16 while Joaquín Rodríguez takes overall lead". The Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012). 13 September 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ↑ "Ha sido la etapa más dura de mi vida". El Pais. May 22, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
- ↑ Charles Pelkey (22 May 2011). "As Mikel Nieve wins stage at Giro d’Italia, Alberto Contador just keeps adding to his lead". Velo News (2012 Competitor Group, Inc.). Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- ↑ "Basque Country's Euskaltel present UCI World Tour team". EITB (EiTB Group). 23 October 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
The Basque backbone remains with Samuel Sanchez, Igor Anton, Ion Izagirre, Mikel Landa, Gorka Izagirre, Pello Bilbao, Mikel Astarloza and Mikel Nieve.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mikel Nieve. |
- Mikel Nieve profile at Team Sky
- Mikel Nieve profile at Cycling Archives
- Mikel Nieve profile at Cycling Base