Isidro Nozal Vega (born 18 October 1977) is a Spanish former professional

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

cyclist Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. Nozal was runner-up in the 2003 Vuelta a España and an instrumental domestique in

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 ...

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 Rob ...

win.

Doping

In 2005, Vega was suspended for two weeks after being tested with a

hematocrit The hematocrit () (Ht or HCT), also known by several other names, is the volume percentage (vol%) of red blood cells (RBCs) in blood, measured as part of a blood test. The measurement depends on the number and size of red blood cells. It is nor ...

level above 50 before the start of Dauphine Libere. In 2006, he was initially implicated in the Operación Puerto doping case, but was cleared of any wrongdoing by Spanish officials. He later admitted his involvement, saying he did three blood transfusions with Fuentes in the season before the 2005 Dauphine Libere, but denying he doped. For the 2008 and 2009 seasons Nozal rode for the Portuguese Pro Continental team of Liberty Seguros. In September 2009 Nozal and two teammates (Nuno Ribeiro and Héctor Guerra) were announced to have tested positive for EPO-CERA in samples taken for the previous month's Tour of Portugal. Liberty Seguros immediately announced that it would cease sponsorship of the team and its participation in cycling. Ribeiro's win was withdrawn and the second-placed rider, Spain's David Blanco, was elevated to the overall win. Nozal, Ribeiro, and Guerra all received two-year suspensions from cycling.www.cyclingnews.com 24 July 2010

Career achievements

Major results

;1998 : 7th Overall

Circuito Montañés Circuito Montañés is a road cycling stage race held annually in Cantabria Cantabria (, ; ) is an autonomous community and Provinces of Spain, province in northern Spain with Santander, Cantabria, Santander as its capital city. It is call ...

;1999 : 6th Overall

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (; ), officially abbreviated TdP, is an annual, professional men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages and is usually around 1,200 km ...

;2000 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

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 ...

;2001 : 6th Overall Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja ;2002 :

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 ...

::1st Stage 4 ( TTT) ::Held Jersey white

after Stages 4–8 : 4th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León : 7th Overall Deutschland Tour : 7th Overall Vuelta a Burgos ::1st Stage 3 ( TTT) : 7th Overall Vuelta a Asturias : 8th Overall Clasica de Alcobendas ::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) ;2003 : 2nd Overall

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 ...

::1st Stages 1 ( TTT), 6 ( ITT) & 13 ( ITT) ::Held Jersey gold

after Stages 4–19 ::Held Jersey polkadot

after Stage 9 ::Held Jersey blue

after Stages 4–9 & 12–14 : 4th

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 ...

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 Deutschland Tour ;2004 : 7th

, National Road Championships : 7th Overall

: 10th Subida al Naranco

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

1977 births Living people Cyclists from Barakaldo Spanish male cyclists Cyclists from Cantabria Doping cases in cycling Spanish sportspeople in doping cases Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners People from the Eastern Coast of Cantabria 20th-century Spanish people 21st-century Spanish people {{Spain-cycling-bio-1970s-stub