Abraham Olano facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Abraham Olano

Olano in 2006
Personal information
Born	(1970-01-22) 22 January 1970 (age 55) Anoeta, Spain
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 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 Spanish retired professional road racing cyclist. He was a professional 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 also won the Vuelta a España in 1998, which is one of cycling's biggest races. He finished second in the Vuelta in 1995. Olano also reached the podium twice in the Giro d'Italia, finishing third in 1996 and second in 2001. He placed in the top ten three times in the Tour de France, with his best result being fourth place in 1997. Overall, he won six stages in the Vuelta and one in the Tour, all of which were time trials.

Olano was also a two-time Spanish Champion in both road racing (1994) and time trial (1994 and 1998). He won a silver medal in the time trial at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He also won several shorter stage races, like the Tour de Romandie in 1996 and the Critérium International and Tirreno–Adriatico in 2000.

Early Cycling Days

Abraham Olano started cycling when he was 11 years old. He joined the Oria Cycling school. Even as a junior rider, he won many races.

Later, Olano also tried track cycling. He became a Spanish Champion in several track events. These included pursuit, the 1 km race with a standing start, and sprint. In road racing, he began as an amateur for teams like Kaiku and AVSA. He was known for his strong sprinting skills.

Professional Career Highlights

Starting as a Pro

In 1992, Olano became a professional cyclist with the CHCS team. This team soon closed down, and he moved to the Lotus team. With Lotus, Olano won his first professional race, the Gran Premio de Villafranca de Ordizia.

In 1993, Olano joined CLAS Cajastur, which later combined with the Mapei team. Here, he started winning important races. These included the Vuelta a Asturias and the Spanish National Road Race Championships. He won both the road race and the time trial titles that year.

World Champion Success

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. In the time trial, Olano won a silver medal, coming in second to Miguel Induráin. In the road race, the results were reversed. Olano won the championship, and Indurain took silver. The road race course was very tough. Olano showed his amazing strength by riding the last kilometer alone with a flat tire.

Grand Tour Achievements

Olano proved his skills in stage races in 1996. He won the Tour de Romandie. He finished third in the Giro d'Italia, even leading the race on the second-to-last day. He also placed ninth in the Tour de France. At the 1996 Olympic Games, he won a silver medal in the time trial. He was just 12 seconds behind Miguel Induráin.

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

In 1998, Olano achieved his biggest win in a Grand Tour. He won the Vuelta a España. He faced strong competition from other top riders like Fernando Escartín, Roberto Heras, Laurent Jalabert, and Alex Zülle. Despite winning, Olano was not completely happy with his team, Banesto. His teammate José María Jiménez won four stages and sometimes left Olano alone on climbs. Jiménez even took the Yellow Jersey from Olano for a short time. Olano won the jersey back in the second time trial. These events led to him joining the ONCE team for the next season.

Olano ended 1998 strongly by winning the World Championship time trial in Valkenburg. He was the first male rider in modern cycling to win both the World Championship in the road race (1995) and the time trial (1998).

Later Career and Retirement

In 1999, Olano returned to defend his Vuelta title. He started well, taking second place in the prologue despite heavy rain. In stage 7, a time trial, Olano won clearly. He took the lead in the overall race and wore the Yellow Jersey. He held his lead through several mountain stages. However, a crash on the stage to Alto de Angliru caused him to break a rib. He had to leave the race.

In 2000, Olano started focusing 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 professional racing in 2002.

Many people saw Olano as the next Miguel Induráin, who won the Tour de France five times. This comparison followed Olano throughout his career. However, Olano had a very successful career on his own terms. He was one of the best time trial riders of his time and had incredible endurance. He struggled a bit on the steepest climbs, which limited his Grand Tour wins to one.

Later Life and Roles

After retiring from cycling, Abraham Olano continued to be involved in sports. In November 2006, he ran the San Sebastián marathon, finishing in 2 hours, 39 minutes, and 19 seconds.

He also worked on designing stages for the Vuelta a España. However, he later left this position due to concerns raised in a report from the French senate. The International Olympic Committee also decided not to award him a bronze medal from a past event due to similar concerns.

In October 2015, Olano became the new national coach for Gabon. His job was to help build their national cycling team from the ground up.

Major Achievements

Grand Tour Results Timeline

Grand Tour general classification results
Grand Tour	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Giro d'Italia	—	—	—	3	—	—	—	—	2	—
Tour de France	DNF	30	—	9	4	DNF	6	34	—	78
/ Vuelta a España	—	20	2	—	DNF	1	DNF	19	64	—
Major stage race general classification results
Race	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
/ Paris–Nice	28	—	4	24	—	—	—	—	—	—
Tirreno–Adriatico	—	—	—	—	—	—	68	1	31	52
Tour of the Basque Country	97	13	DNF	3	8	DNF	40	DNF	13	37
/ Tour de Romandie	—	—	—	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
Critérium du Dauphiné	—	—	—	—	2	—	—	18	—	—
Volta a Catalunya	—	21	DNF	—	—	6	11	—	—	—
Tour de Suisse	29	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

See also

In Spanish: Abraham Olano para niños