kids encyclopedia robot

Igor Astarloa facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Igor Astarloa
Astarloa at the 2006 Rund um den Henninger Turm
Personal information
Full name Igor Astarloa Askasibar
Born (1976-03-29) March 29, 1976 (age 48)
Ermua, Spain
Height 1.70 m
Weight 67 kg
Team information
Discipline Road
Role Rider (retired)
Rider type Classics specialist
Major wins
One-day races and Classics
World Road Race Championships (2003)
La Flèche Wallonne (2003)
Milano–Torino (2006)

Igor Astarloa Askasibar (born March 29, 1976, in Ermua, Basque Country) is a retired cyclist from Spain.

Career

Astarloa turned professional with the Italian cycling team Mercatone Uno and enjoyed his best season in 2003 with team Saeco when he won the Flèche Wallonne and the road race title at the World Cycling Championships at Hamilton, Canada. The following year, he joined Cofidis, but when the team temporarily stopped racing due to a doping scandal, he was released to join Lampre. During the 2006 transfer season it was announced that he was to leave Team Barloworld, the Continental Circuit team for which Astarloa had ridden for the last several years, and join Team Milram, a member of the UCI ProTour.

Team Milram terminated its contract with Astarloa in May 2008 following disclosures that he had shown "irregular blood values", as reported by Focus magazine. He joined the Amica Chips-Knauf team, which folded in May 2009. Soon after, in June 2009, Astarloa was one of the first five riders to fall foul of the Union Cycliste International's new biological passport system, introduced to combat doping by competitive cyclists. Astarloa was unable to secure another contract that season, and retired in January 2010.

Doping conviction

On 1 December 2010, the Union Cycliste International announced that the Spanish Cycling Federation’s Disciplinary Commission had handed down a two-year suspension and a €35,000 fine to Igor Astarloa. According to Cyclingnews.com, Astarloa's blood samples had come under considerable scrutiny prior to the events of 2008-09 and in the wake of his 2003 world championships victory, although he was never punished for any infraction.

Major results

1999
4th Gran Premio della Liberazione
2000
9th Road race, National Road Championships
9th Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi
2001
1st GP Primavera
5th GP Miguel Induráin
6th Clásica de Almería
7th HEW Cyclassics
2002
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Brixia Tour
1st Stage 2a
2nd Clásica de San Sebastián
2nd HEW Cyclassics
2nd Japan Cup
7th Paris–Tours
2003
1st Jersey rainbow.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Stage 3 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
3rd Rund um den Henninger Turm
4th HEW Cyclassics
10th Amstel Gold Race
2004
2nd GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano
3rd HEW Cyclassics
4th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
6th Milan–San Remo
9th Overall Brixia Tour
1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
1st Stage 1
2005
Vuelta a Burgos
1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
1st Stage 2
4th Overall Brixia Tour
5th Paris–Brussels
6th Coppa Placci
7th Gran Premio de Llodio
10th Clásica de San Sebastián
2006
1st Milano–Torino
6th Overall Critérium International
8th Gran Premio di Chiasso

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia 53 55 DNF
A yellow jersey Tour de France Has not contested during his career
A red jersey Vuelta a España DNF 63 DNF DNF
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Igor Astarloa para niños

  • List of doping cases in cycling
kids search engine
Igor Astarloa Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.