Abraham Olano
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Full name | Abraham Olano Manzano | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Anoeta, Spain |
January 22, 1970 ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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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, who raced between 1992 and 2002. He won the World Road Championship in 1995, and the World Time Trial Championship in 1998, becoming the first male cyclist who had won both. No one has since repeated such achievement.
He also played a great role in Grand Tours: he won Vuelta a España in 1998 and was second in 1995, made it twice to the final podium at Giro d'Italia (third in 1996 and second in 2001), and placed three times in the top-ten at Tour de France, with the fourth place in 1997 as his personal best. In total he won six stages in Vuelta and one in Tour, all of them time trials.
Olano was also double Spanish Champion in both road (1994) and time trial (1994 and 1998), olympic silver medalist in time trial in Atlanta 1996 and winner of several one-week stage tours, like Tour of Romandie in 1996 and Tirreno-Adriatico in 2000.
Contents
Amateur career[edit]
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[edit]
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[edit]
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.
Palmarès[edit]
- 1992
- 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
- 3rd Clasica de Almeria
- 1994
- 1st National Road Race Championships
- 1st National Time Trial Championships
- 1st Overall Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas
- 1st Overall Vuelta a Asturias
- 5th UCI World Time Trial Championships
- 1995
- UCI Road World Championships
- 1st Road Race
- 2nd Time Trial
- 2nd Overall Vuelta a España
- 4th Overall Paris–Nice
- 1996
- 1st Overall Tour de Romandie
- 1st Stage 6 (ITT)
- 1st Overall Tour of Galicia
- 2nd Time Trial, Olympic Games
- 2nd National Road Race Championships
- 2nd GP du Canton d'Argovie
- 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
- 3rd Overall Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco
- 8th UCI World Time Trial Championships
- 9th Overall Tour de France
- 1997
- 1st Overall Euskal Bizikleta
- 1st Stage 4b (ITT)
- 1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
- 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragon
- 4th Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stage 20 (ITT)
- 1998
- 1st UCI World Time Trial Championship
- 1st National Time Trial Championships
- 1st Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 9 (ITT)
- 1st Overall Euskal Bizikleta
- 1st Stage 4b (ITT)
- 1st Vuelta Ciclista a La Rioja
- 1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
- 6th Overall Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
- 1999
- 1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 6 (ITT) Vuelta a España
- 6th Overall Tour de France
- 2000
- 1st Stage 8 (ITT) Vuelta a España:
- 1st Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 1st Stage 5
- 1st Overall Critérium International
- 1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 1st Stage 5b (ITT)
- 4th Time Trial, Olympic Games
- 5th UCI World Time Trial Championship
- 8th Overall Tour Méditerranéen
- 2001
- 1st Overall Clásica de Alcobendas
- 2nd Overall Giro d'Italia
- 7th GP Primavera
- 2002
- 1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
- 2nd National Road Race Championships
Grand Tours overall classification results timeline[edit]
Grand Tour | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
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Giro | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - |
Tour | WD | 30 | - | 9 | 4 | WD | 6 | 34 | - | 78 |
Vuelta | - | 20 | 2 | - | WD | 1 | WD | 19 | 64 | - |
WD = Withdrew
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- Tour de France results
- Abraham Olano profile at Cycling Archives
- 1970 births
- Living people
- Basque cyclists
- Spanish male cyclists
- Spanish Tour de France stage winners
- Vuelta a España winners
- Olympic cyclists of Spain
- Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for Spain
- Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners
- UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
- Olympic medalists in cycling
- People from Gipuzkoa
- Vuelta a España cyclists
- Tour de France cyclists
- Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics