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Aitana (mountain)
Aitana (, ) is a mountain massif that is part of Prebaetic System in the eastern end of the Iberian Peninsula. Administratively, the mountainous area is located in the Marina Baixa, Alcoià and Comtat comarcas in the northern part of Alicante province, Valencian Community, Spain. Its peak at 1,558 metres above sea level is the highest point of the province. Geography The Aitana mountain range is spread over an area of 2,000 hectares, about ten miles from the Mediterranean coast. Apart from Aitana, the highest peak that gives the name to the mountain system, other notable peaks are Penya Alta (1,506 m), Penya Catxa (1,467 m), El Mulero (1,308 m) and Alt del Carrascar (1,208 m). The summit has also been the location of the finish line in the annual multi-stage bicycle race Vuelta a España a number of times. The Alto de Aitana is a 22.3 kilometer-long grinding ascension with an average gradient of 6% and can also be compared with Mount Ventoux, though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baetic System
The Baetic System or Betic System ( es, Sistema Bético) is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. Located in the southern and eastern Iberian Peninsula, it is also known as the Cordilleras Béticas (Baetic Mountain Ranges) or Baetic Mountains. The name of the mountain system derives from the ancient Roman region of Baetica, one of the Imperial Roman provinces of ancient Hispania. Geography The Baetic System is made up of multiple mountain ranges that reach from western Andalusia to the Region of Murcia, southern Castile-La Mancha and the Land of Valencia. To the north, the Baetic Ranges are separated from the Meseta Central and the Sierra Morena by the basin of the Guadalquivir. The Iberian System rises north of the eastern part of the Prebaetic System, the northernmost prolongation of the Baetic System. Generally the mountain ranges that are part of this system are aligned in a southwest-northeast direction. The most well-known range of the Baetic System is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holly Oak
''Quercus ilex'', the evergreen oak, holly oak or holm oak is a large evergreen oak native to the Mediterranean region. It is a member of the ''Ilex'' section of the genus, with acorns that mature in a single summer. Description An evergreen tree of large size, attaining in favourable places a height of , and developing in open situations a huge head of densely leafy branches as much across, the terminal portions of the branches usually pendulous in old trees. The trunk is sometimes over in girth. The young shoots are clothed with a close gray felt. The leaves are very variable in shape, most frequently narrowly oval or ovate-lanceolate, long, 1.2–2.5 cm wide, rounded or broadly tapered at the base, pointed, the margins sometimes entire, sometimes (especially on young trees) more or less remotely toothed. When quite young, both surfaces are clothed with whitish down, which soon falls away entirely from the upper surface leaving it a dark glossy green; on the lower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis (born October 14, 1975) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He finished first at the 2006 Tour de France, and would have been the third non-European winner in the event's history, but was disqualified after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The competition was ultimately won by Óscar Pereiro. Landis was an all-around rider, with special skills in climbing, time-trialing, and descending. He turned professional in 1999 with the Mercury Cycling Team, joined the U.S. Postal Service team in 2002, and moved to the Phonak Hearing Systems team in 2005. In January 2010, a French judge issued a national arrest warrant for Landis on computer hacking charges related to the 2006 doping allegations. Until 2010, Landis maintained his innocence and mounted a defense. Although his legal team documented inconsistencies in the handling and evaluation of his urine samples, the disqualification was upheld. He was suspended from professional compe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leonardo Piepoli
Leonardo Piepoli (born 29 September 1971 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland) is a former Italian professional road racing cyclist. He most recently rode for on the UCI ProTour, but had his contract suspended in July 2008 during the Tour de France amid allegations of the use of the blood boosting drug EPO in the team. He was later suspended for two years, which effectively ended his career. Career He is a record four-time winner (1995, 1999, 2003, 2004) of the Subida a Urkiola. Piepoli is a specialist climber, and this was shown in the 2006 Giro d'Italia, where he was one of the strongest riders in the mountains and won two stages. In the 2007 Giro d'Italia, Piepoli won the mountains classification. He has won stages in the Giro and the Vuelta a España. He also made himself famous by 'gifting' two stage victories to his team-mates Gilberto Simoni and Riccardo Riccò. During the Vuelta, Piepoli lead the mountains classification, but was forced to leave the race, citing 'family p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xàtiva
Xàtiva (, es, Játiva ) is a town in eastern Spain, in the province of Valencia, on the right (western) bank of the river Albaida and at the junction of the Valencia– Murcia and Valencia Albacete railways. It is located 25 km west of the Mediterranean Sea. During the Al-Andalus Islamic era, Arabs brought the technology to manufacture paper to Xàtiva. In the 12th century, Xàtiva was known for its schools, education, and learning circles. Islamic scholar Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi's last name refers to Xàtiva where he lived and died. After the Reconquista by Northern Christian kingdoms and the following Christian repopulation, the city became the cradle of one of the most powerful and controversial families of the Renaissance, the House of Borgia, which produced Popes like Callixtus III (Alfonso de Borgia) and Alexander VI (Rodrigo de Borgia). History Xàtiva (''Saetabis'' in Latin) was famous in Roman times for its linen fabrics, mentioned by the Latin poets Ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2004 Vuelta A España
The 59th edition of the ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 4 September to 26 September 2004. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of , and was won by Roberto Heras of the Liberty Seguros cycling team. Halfway through the 2004 Vuelta, it appeared it would become an easy win for Heras, but in the last week his fellow countryman Santiago Pérez won two heavy mountain stages, thus becoming an important rival. Eventually Heras won with only 30 seconds advantage on Pérez. Pérez and Phonak hearing systems teammate Tyler Hamilton would later test positive for blood doping from blood samples taken during the race. Francisco Mancebo, also from Spain took third. The first non-Spaniard was Stefano Garzelli from Italy in 11th. The points classification was won by Erik Zabel from Germany, the mountains classification was won by Félix Cárdenas from Colombia and the combination classification was w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cadel Evans
Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with Greg LeMond and Egan Bernal – to have officially won the Tour de France, winning the race in 2011 Tour de France, 2011. Early in his career, he was a champion Mountain biking, mountain biker, winning the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in 1998 and 1999 and placing seventh in the Cycling at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's cross-country, men's cross-country mountain bike race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Evans is a four-time Olympian. Evans turned to full-time Road bicycle racing, road cycling in 2001, and gradually progressed through the ranks. He finished second in the Tour de France in 2007 Tour de France, 2007 and 2008 Tour de France, 2008. Both of these 2nd place finishes are in the top 10 of the Tour de France records ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Damiano Cunego
Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the , and teams. Cunego's biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, and the Giro di Lombardia in 2004, 2007 and 2008. He finished second in the UCI Road World Championships in 2008 and in the 2008 UCI ProTour. Primarily a climber, he improved his time-trialing and was characterized by great sprinting ability, unusual for a climber. Career Saeco–Longoni Sport (2002–04) Born in Cerro Veronese, Veneto, Cunego began cycling as a teenager after being a successful cross-country runner. He was discovered by Giuseppe Martinelli who also worked closely with Marco Pantani. Cunego turned professional in 2002 at the age of 20 with , winning the Giro d'Oro and the Giro Medio Brenta in his first season. In 2003 he won the seventh stage and the overall classification of the Tour of Qinghai Lake. He came to pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alzira, Valencia
Alzira ( es, Alcira) is a city and municipality of 45.088 inhabitants (62,094 floating population) in Valencia, eastern Spain. It is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Ribera Alta in the province of Valencia. The city is the heart of the second largest urban agglomeration in the province, with a population of over 100,000. Geographic situation Alzira is located in the province of Valencia, on the left bank of the Júcar river, and on the Valencia–Alicante railway. Alzira's climate is typically Mediterranean: warm with no extremes of temperature either in summer or winter. Rainfall is scarce and irregular. Torrential rains usually follow periods of relative drought. The town is situated on the shores of the Júcar river and contains the Murta and Casella valleys. Alzira's borough extends over 111 square kilometres. History Alzira was founded by the Muslim Moors under the name Jazirat Shukr ( ar, جزيرة شَقْر) which later became known as Xúquer Island. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2009 Vuelta A España
The 2009 Vuelta a España was the 64th Vuelta a España. The event took place from 29 August to 20 September 2009. For only the second time in the race's history, it began away from Spanish soil, with the race not in fact reaching Spain until Stage 5. The 2009 Vuelta has been described as having an easy start and a hard finish. This is because of the short individual time trial and three perfectly flat stages in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium (along with another in Spain in the race's first week), and eight of the final fourteen stages being mountain stages, with four mountaintop finishes. The race was won by Spain's Alejandro Valverde who claimed his first grand tour victory. Teams 29 teams sought places in the race, of which 21 were initially invited to compete. , one of two UCI ProTour teams omitted from the list of invited teams, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and were subsequently granted the right to enter. are thus the only ProTour team absent from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nairo Quintana
Nairo Alexánder Quintana Rojas, ODB, (born 4 February 1990) is a Colombian racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . Nicknamed "Nairoman" and "El Cóndor de los Andes", Quintana is a specialist climber, known for his ability to launch sustained and repeated attacks on ascents of steep gradient, high power output and great stamina to react and endure others' attacks. He is also a competent time triallist, making him a consistent contender for general classification at stage races. His best career results are winning the 2014 Giro d'Italia and 2016 Vuelta a España, as well as 2nd place overall in the Tour de France of 2013 Tour de France, 2013 and 2015 Tour de France, 2015. In addition to his two Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour victories he has also placed in the top 10 on twelve occasions, six of which were on the podium. His multiple wins in Nairo Quintana#Major results, other major stage races, leading to high UCI WorldTour ranking placements at the end of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Latour
Pierre Latour (born 12 October 1993) is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He is a stage winner of the Vuelta a España, and twice the winner of French National Time Trial Championships. Career Latour was born in Romans-sur-Isère. Due to a clerical error when he was an amateur, Latour is more commonly known with a "Roger" in his name as Pierre-Roger Latour. AG2R La Mondiale (2015–2020) 2015 In his first year as a professional rider, Latour first made his name in the Route du Sud. He had attacked on stage 3 but on the last climb of the day, he was joined by Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana. He ended getting dropped on the descent by Contador who attacked. He finished the stage in 3rd position, and took 3rd overall at the end of the race, as well as winning the young rider classification. 2016 At the Tour de Romandie, Latour won the Young rider classification which was his first in a World Tour stage race. After stage 5 at the Tour de Sui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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