Abraham Olano Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Abraham Olano

Olano in 2006

Personal information

Born

22 January 1970 (age 55)
Anoeta, Spain

Height

1.81 m (5 ft 111⁄2 in)

Weight

70 kg (154 lb; 11 st 0 lb)

Team information

Current team

Retired

Discipline

Road

Role

Rider

Rider type

Time trialist

Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France

1 individual stage (1997)

2 TTT stages (2000, 2002)

Vuelta a España

General classification (1998)

6 individual stages (1995, 1998, 1999, 2000)

Stage races

Tour de Romandie (1996)

Tirreno–Adriatico (2000)

One-day races and Classics

World Road Race Championships (1995)

World Time Trial Championships (1998)

National Road Race Championships (1994)

National Time Trial Championships (1994, 1998)

Abraham Olano Manzano (born on January 22, 1970) is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He was a pro rider from 1992 to 2002. Olano made history by becoming the first male cyclist to win both the World Road Championship in 1995 and the World Time Trial Championship in 1998.

He won the Vuelta a España in 1998, which is one of cycling's biggest races. He also finished second in the Vuelta in 1995. Olano reached the podium twice in the Giro d'Italia, another major race, finishing third in 1996 and second in 2001. He also placed in the top ten three times in the Tour de France, with his best result being fourth place in 1997.

Abraham Olano won a total of six stages in the Vuelta a España and one stage in the Tour de France. All of these wins were in time trials, where riders race against the clock alone. He was also a two-time Spanish Champion in road racing (1994) and time trial (1994 and 1998). At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, he won a silver medal in the time trial. He also won shorter stage races like the Tour of Romandie in 1996 and Critérium International and Tirreno–Adriatico in 2000.

Abraham Olano: A Cycling Champion
Major Results
Images for kids
See also

Abraham Olano: A Cycling Champion

Abraham Olano is known for his strong time trial skills and amazing endurance. He was a very successful cyclist, winning many important races.

Early Days in Cycling

Olano started cycling at a young age, just 11 years old, at the Oria Cycling school. Even as a junior rider, he won several races. He also tried track cycling, where he became a Spanish Champion in different events like pursuit and sprint.

In road racing, he began as an amateur for teams like Kaiku and AVSA. He was especially good at sprinting in these early years.

Becoming a Professional Rider

In 1992, Olano became a professional cyclist with the CHCS team. When that team closed, he joined Lotus. With Lotus, he won his first professional race, the Gran Premio de Villafranca de Ordizia.

In 1993, Olano moved to CLAS Cajastur, which later joined with the Mapei team. This is when he started winning bigger races. He won the Vuelta a Asturias and became the Spanish National Champion in both road race and time trial.

Big Wins and Achievements

Winning World Championships

In 1995, Olano had a fantastic year. He won three stages in the Vuelta a España and finished second overall. Later that year, he was a key part of the Spanish team at the World Cycling Championship in Colombia. He won a silver medal in the time trial, coming in second to Miguel Induráin. In the road race, the results were flipped: Olano won the championship, and Indurain took silver. The road race course was very tough, and Olano showed his incredible strength by riding the last kilometer with a flat tire!

In 1998, Olano won another World Championship, this time in the time trial in Valkenburg. He was the first male cyclist in modern times to win both the World Road Race Championship (1995) and the World Time Trial Championship (1998).

Grand Tour Success

Olano showed his talent in stage races in 1996. He won the Tour de Romandie and finished third in the Giro d'Italia. He even led the Giro race almost until the very end. He also finished ninth in the Tour de France. At the 1996 Olympic Games, he won a silver medal in the time trial, just 12 seconds behind Miguel Induráin.

In 1997, Olano finished fourth in the 1997 Tour de France. He won one stage, a long time trial in Disneyland, beating the future Tour winner Jan Ullrich.

In 1998, Olano achieved his biggest win: the Vuelta a España. He had to fight hard against strong climbers like Fernando Escartín and Roberto Heras, and other all-around riders like Laurent Jalabert and Alex Zülle. Even though he won, there were some challenges with his team, Banesto. He later moved to the ONCE team for the next season.

In 1999, Olano tried to win the Vuelta again. He won a time trial stage and took the yellow jersey. However, a crash caused him to break a rib, and he had to leave the race.

In 2000, Olano focused on shorter stage races. He won the Tirreno–Adriatico and Critérium International. He made his last big mark in a Grand Tour with a second-place finish in the 2001 Giro d'Italia. He retired from racing in 2002.

Many people saw Olano as the next Miguel Induráin, who won the Tour de France five times. Olano was one of the best time trialists of his time and had amazing stamina. However, he found it harder to climb steep mountains, which limited his Grand Tour wins to one.

Life After Racing

After retiring from professional cycling, Abraham Olano continued to be active. In November 2006, he ran the San Sebastián marathon, finishing in a great time of 2 hours, 39 minutes, and 19 seconds. In October 2015, he became the new national coach for Gabon, with the goal of building their national cycling team from scratch.