Abraham Olano Manzano (born 22 January 1970) is a Spanish retired professional

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

, who raced as a professional from 1992 to 2002. He won the World Road Championship in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, and the World Time Trial Championship in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, becoming the first male cyclist to win both. He won

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

, was second in

, made it twice to the final podium at

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

(third in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and second in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

), and placed three times in the top-ten at

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, with the fourth place in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

as his personal best. In total he won six stages in the Vuelta and one in the Tour, all of them

time trials In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team set ...

. Olano was also double Spanish Champion in both

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

(1994) and

time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

(1994 and 1998), olympic silver medalist in time trial in Atlanta 1996 and winner of several shorter stage races, like Tour of Romandie in 1996 and

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day Stage (bicycle race), bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in ...

and

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of th ...

in 2000.

Amateur career

Olano started racing 11 years old at the Oria Cycling school, and already at junior level he won several races. 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. In road racing, he started as an amateur for Kaiku and AVSA. He was specialized in sprinting.

Professional career

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. In 1993, Olano switched to CLAS Cajastur, which was later merged with

Mapei Mapei S.p.A. () is an Italian limited company founded in 1937 in Milan that manufactures chemical products for the building industry. History Innovation and research The company was founded and originally called ''Materiali Ausiliari per l ...

. Here, he started to win important races, such as the

Vuelta a Asturias Vuelta Asturias is a professional cycle road race held in Spain in early May each year. The event was first run in 1925 but has not been held consistently until 1968 to present. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI ...

and the

Spanish National Road Race Championships The Spanish National Road Race Championships are held annually to decide the Spanish cycling champions in the road race discipline, across various categories. The event was first held in 1897 and was won by a Portuguese rider, José Bento Pesso ...

, both in road race and time trial. In 1995, Olano won three stages in the

, finishing second in overall classification to

Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...

. Later in the year Olano was a vital part of a hugely successful Spanish team at the

World Cycling Championship The UCI World Championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winn ...

in Colombia. In the time trial, Olano took silver, finishing second to

Miguel Induráin Miguel Induráin Larraya (; born 16 July 1964) is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. Induráin won five Tours de France from 1991 Tour de France, 1991 to 1995 Tour de France, 1995, the fourth, and last, to win five times, and the only five- ...

. In the road race, the top two positions was reversed, with Olano taking the championship and Indurain silver. The route for the road race 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. Olano established his abilities in stage races in 1996; he won the

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

, finished third in the

(leading the race at the second to last day), and finished ninth in the

. He also won the silver medal in the time trial at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, losing out to Miguel Induráin by a margin of only 12 seconds. Olano finished fourth in the

1997 Tour de France The 1997 Tour de France was the 84th edition of the Tour de France and took place from 5 to 27 July. Jan Ullrich's victory margin of 9:09 was the largest margin of victory since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10:32. Since 1997 no r ...

, taking 1 stage win – a long time trial in Disneyland, ahead of the eventual Tour winner

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...

. In 1998, Olano won his only grand tour, the

, fighting off furious challenges from mountain specialists

Fernando Escartín Fernando Escartín Coti (born 24 January 1968) is a Spanish former road racing cyclist. Between 1995 and 2000 he came in the top 10 of the Tour de France five times and in that same time period finished on the podium in 2nd place at the Vuelta a ...

and

Roberto Heras Roberto Heras Hernández (born 1 February 1974) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the Vuelta a España a record four times. Between 1997 Vuelta a España, 1997 and 2005 Vuelta a España, 2005 he finished in the top 5 o ...

as well as fellow all-rounders

and

Alex Zülle Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Switzerland, Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the most successful cyclists in the world, winning the 1996 and 1997 Vuelta a España, taking second place in the 1995 ...

, all at the height of their careers. Despite the victory, Olano was reportedly not happy with the support from the Banesto team and management. Banesto's own mountain specialist

José María Jiménez Jose María Jiménez Sastre (6 February 1971 – 6 December 2003) was a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. During his career he excelled as a climbing specialist, climber, winning numerous mountain stages. His nickname was ''El Chava ...

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 in Valkenburg, ahead of compatriot

Melcior Mauri Melcior Mauri Prat (born 8 April 1966 in Vic) is a Spanish retired cyclist who won the 1991 Vuelta a España, as well as numerous smaller stage races, mainly due to his abilities as a time triallist. He won the silver medal at the time trial Wo ...

. Olano was the first 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 to main challenger

, 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. In 2000, Olano made a shift in focusing on shorter stage races, and won

and

, among others. He would make his last mark at the grand Tours with a 2nd place in the

2001 Giro d'Italia The 2001 Giro d'Italia was the 84th edition of the Giro. It began with a prologue that went from Montesilvano to Pescara. The race came to a close on June 10 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Twenty teams enter ...

. He retired from racing in 2002. On account of results early in his career, a Basque background and some physical similarities, Olano was seen by many supporters as the successor to five-times Tour de France winner

. The comparison would haunt Olano for all of his career, as he went on to have a career that was very successful by almost any other standard. Olano was one of the very best time trialists of his generation, and a rider with enormous stamina. However, he was a reluctant climber, and a tendency to lose valuable time to the specialists on the steepest and highest climbs, would keep his number of Grand Tour wins to one.

Doping revelations

Olano is one of the people responsible for designing stages for the

. 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 The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. The race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route t ...

, indicating use of EPO. The

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

also refused to give the bronze medal to him, since

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...

had been doping like him.

Later life

In November 2006 Olano ran the San Sebastián marathon in a time of 2:39:19. In October 2015, he took over as new national coach for Gabon, with the task of building the national team "from scratch".

Major results

;1992 : 1st

Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia – Clásica de Ordizia is a Spanish professional cycle road race held in Ordizia, Basque Country. The first edition was held in 1922. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour ...

: 3rd

Clásica de Almería The Clásica de Almería () is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February or March in Almería, Spain, starting and finishing in Almería itself. Established in 1986, the race was run as an amateur event in its first six years. In 1 ...

: 6th

Circuito de Getxo The Circuito de Getxo () is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in July in Getxo Getxo () (Spanish: ''Guecho'') is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basq ...

;1993 : 2nd Overall

Vuelta a Castilla y León The Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León is a professional road bicycle stage race held in Castile and León, Spain. Since 2005, it has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions ...

: 7th

Trofeo Luis Puig The Trofeo Luis Puig is a single-day road bicycle race held in Valencian Community, Spain. Originally named the Gran Premio Valencia, it was held annually (except for 1980) from the first edition in 1969 until 2005, in which year it was promoted ...

;1994 : National Road Championships ::1st Road race ::1st

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

: 1st

Overall

Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas The Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas was a three-day professional cycle road race held in Spain in May. The event was first run in 1984 but was not held in 1988 and 1990. From 2005 until its final edition in 2008, the race was organised as a ...

: 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 2 (

ITT ITT may refer to: Communication *Tank phone, Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional typ ...

) : 2nd Trofeo Foral de Navarra : 5th

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

:6th Overall
Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...
::1st Stage 1 (
ITT ITT may refer to: Communication *Tank phone, Infantry-Tank Telephone, a device allowing infantrymen to speak to the occupants of armoured vehicles. Mathematics *Intuitionistic type theory, other name of Martin-Löf Type Theory *Intensional typ ...
) : 7th

Trofeo Masferrer Trofeo Masferrer was a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute ...

;1995 :

::1st

Road race ::2nd Silver medal blank

: 2nd Overall

::1st Prologue, Stages 7 (

) & 20 (

) ::Held

after Prologue & Stage 1 ::Held Jersey granate

after Prologue : 3rd Overall

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often used as preparation for the sprin ...

: 4th Overall

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

: 5th Overall

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan language, Catalan) was a stage race, multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. Held annually from 1963 until 2005, it was run as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour ...

: 9th Overall

Euskal Bizikleta Euskal Bizikleta (Spanish: ''Bicicleta Vasca'', English: ''Basque Bicycle'') was an annual road cycling stage race held in the Basque Country in June. From 2005 to 2008, the race was organized as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, it ...

: 10th Overall

Tour of Galicia The Tour of Galicia (; ) is an annual cycling race held in Galicia, Spain. It was first held in 1933 and was held a further five times between 1934 and 1984. The tour did not take place from the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, until ...

;1996 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

::1st Prologue & Stage 6 (

) : 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 5b (

) : 1st Circuit de l'Aulne : 2nd Silver medal olympic

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 2nd

Grand Prix of Aargau Canton Grand Prix of Aargau Canton () is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Aargau canton, one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. The race consists of fifteen laps around the Swiss town of Gippingen, which belongs to the municipa ...

: 3rd Overall

::Held

after Stage 20 : 3rd Overall

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'') is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is ...

::1st

Points classification : 3rd

Grand Prix des Nations The Grand Prix des Nations was an individual time trial (against the clock) for both professional and amateur racing cyclists. Held annually in Cannes, France, it was instituted in 1932 and often regarded as the unofficial time trial championship ...

: 4th Telekom Grand Prix (with

Johan Museeuw Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer, road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classic ...

) : 6th

Grand Prix Eddy Merckx Grand Prix Eddy Merckx was a cycle race around Brussels, where Eddy Merckx was born. It was held between 1980 and 2004, disappearing after the creation of the UCI ProTour in 2005. The race was initially an individual time trial, becoming a Team ti ...

: 7th Overall

: 8th

: 9th Overall

;1997 : 1st Jersey blue

Overall

::1st Stage 4b (

) : 1st

: 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 2nd Overall

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos (province), Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 4 (

) : 2nd Overall

::1st Prologue : 2nd

Gran Premio de Llodio Gran Premio Internacional de Llodio (also known as Clásica de Álava) is a Spanish professional cycle road race that was held in Llodio, Basque Country, between 1949 and 2011. From 2005 to 2011, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI ...

: 3rd Overall

Vuelta a Aragón Vuelta a Aragón is a professional bicycle road race held in Spain in May of each year. The event was first run in 1939, and was not held between 2006 and 2017. The future of the race is uncertain; there had been plans to organise it again, but an ...

: 4th Overall

::1st Stage 20 (

) : 4th Trofeo Foral de Navarra : 4th

Classique des Alpes Classique des Alpes was a classic taking place as a mountainous single-day cycling race. It took place in Chartreuse Mountains, beginning in Chambéry and finishing in Aix-les-Bains. It was held between 1991 and 2004, a day before the start of the ...

: 5th Road race, National Road Championships : 8th Overall

;1998 : 1st Jersey rainbow chrono

: 1st

, National Road Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 9 (

) : 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 1 (

) : 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 4b (

) : 1st

Overall

Vuelta a La Rioja The Vuelta a La Rioja () is a regional Spanish road bicycle race held in La Rioja. From 2005 to 2008, it was a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were int ...

: 1st

: 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 2nd Overall

Escalada a Montjuïc The Escalada a Montjuïc (in Catalan, English: ''Scaling of Montjuïc'', Spanish: ''Escalada a Montjuïc'') was a one-day, two-stage road bicycle racing race held in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain since 1965. It was held in the middle of October, as ...

: 6th Overall

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

;1999 : 1st Jersey violet

Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 1 (

) :

::1st Stage 6 (

) ::Held

after Stages 5–11 : 1st Stage 2b (

)

: 1st Stage 4b (

)

: 2nd Grand Prix Breitling (with

) : 3rd Overall

: 6th Overall

;2000 : 1st Overall

::1st Stage 5 (

) : 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 5b (

) : 1st

Overall

::1st Stage 9 (

) ::Held

after Stage 9 : 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

: 4th

: 5th

: 8th Overall

Tour Méditerranéen Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

: 8th Grand Prix EnBW (with

) ;2001 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Clásica de Alcobendas : 2nd Overall

: 7th

GP Primavera The Klasika Primavera () is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in Amorebieta, Spain. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing comp ...

;2002 : 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

: 2nd Road race, National Road Championships

General classification results timeline

Notes

References

External links

Tour de France results
* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olano, Abraham 1970 births Living people Spanish male cyclists Spanish Tour de France stage winners Vuelta a España winners Olympic cyclists for 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 Tolosaldea Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists from Gipuzkoa Vuelta a Asturias winners