Igor Astarloa Askasibar (born March 29, 1976 in

Ermua Ermua is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. In 2019, Ermua had 15,880 inhabitants. Ermua is a town in the Durangaldea comarca of the province of Biscay in nor ...

, Basque Country) is a retired

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

from Spain.

Career

Astarloa turned professional with the Italian cycling team and enjoyed his best season in 2003 with team when he won the

Flèche Wallonne Flèche or Fleche may refer to: *Flèche (architecture), a type of church spire * Flèche (cycling), a team cycling competition *Flèche (fencing), an aggressive offensive fencing technique *Flèche (fortification) A flèche ( Fr. for "arrow") is ...

and the road race title 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 winne ...

s at Hamilton, Canada. The following year, he joined , but when the team temporarily stopped racing due to a doping scandal, he was released to join . 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 team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

, a member of the

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, e ...

. 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 Amica is the Latin word for "friend" in the feminine (i.e., "female friend") and may also refer to: Businesses and products * Amica Mutual Insurance, a US-based insurance company * Hyundai Amica, a city car produced by Hyundai * Amica (company) ...

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 The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

'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

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 Cyclingnews.com is a website providing cycling news and race result owned by Future. History In 1995 Australian Bill Mitchell, a keen cyclist and professor of economics at the University of Newcastle, created the website titled "Bill’s Cycli ...

, 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 Gran Premio della Liberazione is an Italian road bicycle race that has been held annually on 25 April since 1946. It marks the anniversary of the 1945 fall of Benito Mussolini's Italian Social Republic. It is a Single-day race that is rated 1.2 ...

;2000 : 9th Road race, National Road Championships : 9th

Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi The Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi is a one-day professional cycling race between the towns of San Vincenzo and Donoratico on the Tuscany coast in Italy. The 193 kilometre long race takes place at the beginning of February and has now taken ove ...

;2001 : 1st GP Primavera : 5th

GP Miguel Induráin The Grand Prix Miguel Induráin ( es, Gran Premio Miguel Induráin), formerly the "Grand Prix Navarre" is a Spanish one-day road bicycle race. History The race was inaugurated in 1951, but was limited to local competition. It was rebranded after ...

: 6th

Clásica de Almería The Clásica de Almería ( en, Classic of 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 i ...

: 7th

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is always around 250 ...

;2002 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Brixia Tour The Brixia Tour was an Italian cycle road race held annually in the province of Brescia, Lombardy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing ...

:: 1st Stage 2a : 2nd

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

: 2nd

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

: 7th Paris–Tours ;2003 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

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 mixed team relay. Events ...

: 1st

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...

: 1st Stage 3

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community 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 ofte ...

: 3rd

Rund um den Henninger Turm Rund is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cathleen Rund (born 1977), German swimmer * Hanno Rund (1925–1993), German mathematician * Thorsten Rund (born 1976), German road and track cyclist See also * Rand (surname) Rand ...

: 4th

: 10th

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classic ...

;2004 : 2nd

GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano The GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano is a road bicycle race held annually in Larciano, Italy. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road ...

: 3rd

: 4th Overall

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

: 6th Milan–San Remo : 9th Overall

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 1 ;2005 :

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the 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 2019, a multi-day ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 2 : 4th Overall

: 5th

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 6th

Coppa Placci The Coppa Placci is a semi classic European bicycle race held between Imola, Italy and San Marino. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race is named after Antonio Placci, a cyclist born in Imola ...

: 7th

Gran Premio de Llodio Gran Premio Internacional de Llodio (also known as Clásica de Álava) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racing, cycle road race that was held in Llodio, Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country, between 1949 and 2011. From 2005 t ...

: 10th

;2006 : 1st

Milano–Torino Milano–Torino is a semi classic European single day cycling race, between the northern Italian cities of Milan and Turin over a distance of 199 kilometres. The event was first run in 1876 making it the oldest classic race in the world. The ev ...

: 6th Overall

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day 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 1932. For many years ...

: 8th

Gran Premio di Chiasso The Gran Premio di Chiasso ( en, Grand Prix of Chiasso) was an annual road bicycle race held in Chiasso, Switzerland. It was a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road bicycle racin ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Astarloa, Igor 1976 births Living people People from Ermua Cyclists from the Basque Country (autonomous community) Spanish male cyclists Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Spain UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Doping cases in cycling Spanish sportspeople in doping cases Sportspeople from Biscay