Mariano Cañardo Lacasta (5 February 1906 in

Olite Olite (''Erriberri'' in Basque language) is a town and municipality located in the Comarca de Tafalla comarca, Merindad de Olite merindad, in Navarre, Spain. History According to Isidore of Seville's ''Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandaloru ...

– 21 June 1987 in Barcelona) was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. He won a record seven editions of the Volta a Catalunya in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as four Spanish national championship titles and one Tour de France stage win. Born in Olite, Navarra, his nickname was ''the Catalan of Olite''.

Biography

Cañardo grew up in Navarra, but, orphaned at the age of 14, he moved with his sister to Barcelona, Catalonia, where he discovered the bike. He was professional from 1926 until 1943, excelling mainly in the early Spanish stage races. An excellent climber and time triallist, Cañardo was next to invincible in the Volta a Catalunya, which he won seven times in addition to two second and two third places. In 1928 he won the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and in 1930 he became the first Spaniard to win the Tour of the Basque Country. In 1935 he finished second overall to Belgian

Gustaaf Deloor Gustaaf Deloor (24 June 1913 – 28 January 2002) was a Belgian road racing cyclist and the winner of the first two editions of the Vuelta a España in 1935 and 1936. The 1936 edition remains the longest winning finish time of the Vuelta in ...

and won stage 5 in the first Vuelta a España. He won two stages at the

1936 Vuelta a España The 1936 Vuelta a España was the 2nd Vuelta a España.This cycling race took place from 5 May to 31 May 1936. The race was composed of 21 stages over and was ridden at an average of . The second edition of the Vuelta began under a volatile polit ...

and one stage in the

1937 Tour de France The 1937 Tour de France was the 31st edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 30 June to 25 July. It consisted of 20 stages with a total length of . Charles Holland and Bill Burl became the first British cyclists to ride the Tour. Burl ...

. He won the first two runnings of the

Tour of Morocco Tour du Maroc is the most important road bicycle race in the African state of Morocco. The editions 1957–1993 were reserved to amateurs. Since 2006, it is organized as a 2.2 event on the UCI Africa Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a ser ...

in 1937 and 1938. His career was hampered by the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939 when all racing in Spain was suspended, and World War II, which disrupted racing in the rest of Europe. He ended his career in 1943. After retiring, he started a successful career as a sports director and race organizer. He was sports director of several cycling teams, among which the Spanish national cycling team, which entered the Tour de France from 1951 to 1953. Later he became race director of various Catalan races, including the

Setmana Catalana The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan) was a 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 in the second half of March. ...

and the Circuit Català. He was a member of the board of directors of the Spanish Cycling Federation and was president of the Catalan Cycling Federation from 1969 to 1974. He received the ''Medalla Forjadors'' for his merit in the sports history of Catalonia in 1987.

Major results

;1928 : Volta a Catalunya ;1929 : Volta a Catalunya : Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana ;1930 : Circuito de Getxo :

Spanish National Road Race Championship 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 ...

:Vuelta a Santander : Volta a Catalunya : Tour of the Basque Country : Vuelta a Levante :Barcelona ;1931 :

:Madrid ;1932 :Trofeo Masferrer : Volta a Catalunya ;1933 :

:Trofeo Masferrer :Barcelona ;1934 : Tour de France: ::9th place overall classification ;1935 : Vuelta a España: ::Winner stage 5 ::2nd place overall classification : Volta a Catalunya ;1936 :Stage 1 GP Republica :

: Volta a Catalunya : Vuelta a España: ::10th place overall classification ::Winner stages 7 and 15 :Palma de Mallorca : Tour de France: ::6th place overall classification ;1937 : Tour du Maroc : Tour de France: ::Winner stage 14B ;1938 : Tour du Maroc ;1939 : Circuito del Norte (incl. 4 stages) : Volta a Catalunya : Madrid - Lisboa ;1940 :Clasica a los Puertos de Guadarrama

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Canardo, Mariano 1906 births 1987 deaths Spanish male cyclists Spanish Tour de France stage winners Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners People from Olite Cyclists from Navarre