Rubén Plaza Molina (born 29 February 1980) is a Spanish former professional

road bicycle racer 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 common ...

, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the , S.L. Benfica, , (over three spells), , and teams. During his career, he recorded a top 5 overall placing in the

2005 Vuelta a España These are the results for the 2005 edition of the Vuelta a España cycling race. Roberto Heras was the original champion but the win was awarded to Russian Denis Menchov after Heras tested positive in a doping test. Heras made an appeal through t ...

, and won three Grand Tour stages.

Career

Plaza was born in Ibi, Spain. In 2006 he was implicated in the Operación Puerto doping scandal, but was later acquitted of any involvement. Nevertheless, after an abridged 2007 season with he spent 2008 and 2009 with smaller Continental level teams in Portugal. Despite this, in 2009 he was able to take his second victory in the Spanish national championships, before finishing 4th overall in the Volta a Portugal, a result which was later upgraded to 3rd by the disqualification of his Liberty Seguros teammate Nuno Ribeiro for a doping violation. The simultaneous positive tests of two of the team's other riders caused the team to disband, leaving Plaza without a ride for 2010. Despite being linked to the team, Plaza returned to , the signing made official in December 2009. In 2015, he won Stage 16 of the Tour de France, his second Grand Tour stage win. In 2015, he also won Stage 20 of the Vuelta a España. He was named in the start list for the

2016 Giro d'Italia The 2016 Giro d'Italia was the 99th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Apeldoorn on 6 May with a individual time trial, followed by two other stages in the Netherlands, both between Nijmegen and ...

Career achievements

Major results

;1997 : National Junior Road Championships ::1st MaillotEspaña

Road race ::3rd Time trial ;1998 : 1st MaillotEspaña

Time trial, National Junior Road Championships ;2003 : 1st MaillotEspaña

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 5 Regio-Tour ;2004 : 1st Stage 5 (

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) Trofeú Joaquim Agostinho : 3rd

Trofeo Cala Millor The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or ear ...

: 4th Overall Vuelta a Murcia : 6th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana : 10th Circuito de Getxo ;2005 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

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::1st Mountains classification ::1st Stage 2 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Vuelta a Aragón ::1st Stage 4 (

) : 1st Stage 2 Vuelta a Murcia : 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships : 4th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships : 5th Overall Vuelta a España ::1st Stage 20 (

) : 5th Klasika Primavera : 6th Overall Critérium International ;2006 : 1st Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama : 2nd Overall Vuelta a La Rioja : 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships : 4th Overall Vuelta a Asturias ::1st Stage 5 : 4th Overall Trofeú Joaquim Agostinho ::1st Stage 1 : 9th Subida a Urkiola ;2007 : 1st Overall Vuelta a La Rioja : 4th Overall

Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas is a three-day professional cycle road race held in Spain in May each year. The event was first run in 1984 but was not held in 1988 and 1990. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

: 5th Overall Euskal Bizikleta : 10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos ;2008 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana : 1st Stage 1 (

) Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid : 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships : 3rd Overall Volta a Portugal ::1st Prologue : 9th Overall Volta ao Algarve ;2009 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotEspaña

Road race ::3rd Time trial : 1st Stage 2

GP CTT Correios de Portugal The GP CTT Correios de Portugal is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions ...

: 2nd Overall Vuelta a Murcia ::1st Stage 4 : 3rd Overall Volta ao Algarve : 3rd Overall Volta a Portugal ::1st Stage 6 : 4th Overall

Circuit de Lorraine The Circuit de Lorraine is a multi-stage road bicycle racing event held annually in Lorraine, France. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competi ...

::1st Stage 3 ;2010 : 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships : 10th Overall Tour de France ;2012 : 10th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe ;2013 : 1st Jersey multicolor

Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León ::1st Stage 3 : 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships : 4th Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid : 6th Overall Route du Sud : 9th Overall Vuelta a Asturias ;2015 : 1st Stage 16 Tour de France : Vuelta a España ::1st Stage 20 :: Jersey red number

Combativity award Stage 20 ;2018 : 1st Jersey multicolor

Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León ::1st Stage 3 : 9th Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia ;2019 : 6th Overall Tour of Antalya : 10th GP Miguel Induráin

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza, Ruben 1980 births Living people People from Alcoià Sportspeople from the Province of Alicante Spanish male cyclists Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners Cyclists from the Valencian Community Spanish Tour de France stage winners S.L. Benfica (cycling)