Roberto Heras Hernández (born 1 February 1974) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage 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'Italia, the ...

a record four times. Between

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and 2005 he finished in the top 5 of the Vuelta every year except

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 frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

when he finished 6th. He won a record-tying three times, and then broke the record with a fourth win in 2005, but he was eventually disqualified after being accused of taking EPO. Heras chose to fight the accusations and this resulted in a lengthy court case and appeal process. In June 2011, Heras successfully appealed against the disqualification in the civil court of

Castilla y León Castile, Castille or Castilla may refer to: Places Spain *Castile (historical region), a vaguely defined historical region of Spain covering most of Castile and León, all of the Community of Madrid and most of Castilla–La Mancha *Kingdom of ...

, and this decision was upheld in the Spanish supreme court in December 2012. The Spanish cycling federation subsequently reinstated Heras as 2005 Vuelta champion.

Early career

Heras turned professional in 1995 for the Spanish cycling team Kelme. His first win as a pro came in 1996 in the Subida al Naranco. Later that year he won the 12th stage of the Vuelta a España. Next year he won another stage at the Vuelta and the Clásica de Amorebieta. In 1999 he won stages at the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) 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 ...

and the Giro d'Italia, and he stood for the first time on the Vuelta's podium, third despite not winning a stage. In 2000 he took two stages and the overall win, which attracted the US Postal cycling team.

Riding with Lance Armstrong

From 2001, he raced alongside

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...

on the

US Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

team. As a

climbing specialist A climbing specialist or climber, also known as a grimpeur, is a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads, such as those found among hills or mountains. Role of climber in a race In a sustained climb, the average ...

, he assisted Armstrong in the

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...

stages of the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. Heras achieved his highest position in the Tour when he finished fifth in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

. During the

2002 Tour de France The 2002 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 6 to 28 July, and the 89th edition of the Tour de France. The event started in Luxembourg and ended in Paris. The Tour circled France counter-clockwise, visiting the Pyrenees b ...

was in 2nd place overall going into stage 11 where the race entered the high mountains. Going up the final climb on the

Tourmalet Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of ...

Heras set such a dominating pace at the front of the fragmented

Peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...

that all of Armstrong's rivals were dropped with the exception of

Joseba Beloki Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro (born 12 August 1973) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. Tour successes Beloki turned professional in 1998 with , joined in 2000, and then in 2001. A strong climber in the high mountains and a top p ...

. The ride put in by Heras set up Armstrong to take over the

Yellow Jersey The general classification is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey (french: maillot jaune ). History Th ...

from the ONCE-Eroski team led by Beloki,

Abraham Olano Abraham Olano Manzano (born 22 January 1970 in Anoeta, Gipuzkoa) is a Spanish retired professional road racing cyclist, who raced between 1992 and 2002. He won the World Road Championship in 1995, and the World Time Trial Championship in 19 ...

and

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano Igor may refer to: People * Igor (given name), an East Slavic given name and a list of people with the name * Mighty Igor (1931–2002), former American professional wrestler * Igor Volkoff, a professional wrestler from NWA All-Star Wrestling ...

who was in the overall lead at the start of Stage 11. Beloki finished 2nd overall in the stage as Heras came in 3rd with both riders behind Armstrong who finally launched his attack for the stage win. The next day in Stage 12 once again Roberto Heras set such a furious pace on the final climb that all of Armstrong's rivals were dropped with the exception of Beloki except this time it was Heras who crossed in 2nd while Beloki took third.

Dominating the Vuelta a España

He had, however, already established himself as a contender for honours in other Tours. He was fifth and a stage winner in the 1997 Vuelta, sixth (and another stage victory) a year later, and third in 1999; that year he finished sixth and won a stage in the Giro d'Italia. His first Vuelta win came in 2000 (when he also won two stages and the points classification), and he won again in 2003. At the end of 2003, he left US Postal to lead the Spanish

Liberty Seguros Liberty Seguros is an international subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Group, a Boston-based insurance company. Sponsorships Liberty Seguros sponsored the UCI ProTour cycling team, Liberty Seguros – Würth, but dropped the sponsorship on 25 May 20 ...

team. He was thought to be a contender for the 2004 Tour de France but abandoned after the 16th stage due to lack of fitness. Heras entered the

and won, equalling

Tony Rominger Tony Rominger (born 27 March 1961 in Vejle, Denmark) is a Swiss former professional road racing cyclist who won the Vuelta a España in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and the Giro d'Italia in 1995. He began cycling late, allegedly spurred by competition wi ...

's record three wins. During the first mountain stages, it seemed an easy win but in the last week he had a challenge from Santiago Pérez. 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 ...

, Heras won two mountain stages (including the Estación de Esquí de Pajares) and lost the last time trial by less than a second, something nobody expected from the non-time-trial-specialist Heras. Heras won for the fourth time, a record. However, a drug test in November 2005, two months after the race, showed a positive test for EPO from the day of time trial (stage 20). Heras was fired and faced a two-year suspension. His Vuelta win was given to second-place finisher, Russian

Denis Menchov Denis Nikolayevich Menchov (russian: Денис Николаевич Меньшов; born 25 January 1978) is a former professional Russian road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 2000 and 2013. He was best known as a general clas ...

. Heras appealed, alleging inaccuracies in the testing and mishandling of his samples. He appealed this decision in the civil court of

, and was successful. The Spanish cycling federation appealed at the Spanish supreme court, but in December 2012 this court upheld the decision; the Spanish cycling federation subsequently reinstated Heras as 2005 champion and Heras went on to sue the federation for over one million euro in purported lost earnings. In January 2016, Heras was awarded €724,000 in compensation from the Spanish state, a sentence that was confirmed on 9 May 2017.

Career achievements

Major results

;1996 : 10th Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta ;1997 : 1st Subida al Naranco : 3rd Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama : 5th Overall

::1st Stage 12 : 8th Overall

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia ( en, Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, d ...

: 9th Overall

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 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 ...

;1998 : 1st Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta : 2nd Subida al Naranco : 3rd Clasica a los Puertos de Guadarrama : 4th Trofeo Forla de Navarra : 5th Overall

Vuelta a La Rioja The Vuelta a La Rioja ( en, Tour of 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 Road ...

: 6th Overall

::1st Stage 19 : 6th Overall

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 ...

: 8th 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 ...

: 10th Overall Paris–Nice : 10th Overall

;1999 : 1st Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta : 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 6 : 2nd

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 ...

: 3rd Overall

: 5th Overall Giro d'Italia ::1st Stage 21 : 5th Overall Tour of Galicia ;2000 : 1st Jersey gold

Overall

::1st

Points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

::1st Stages 7 & 20 : 1st Stage 5

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 ...

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta : 3rd Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama : 5th Overall

: 5th Overall Tour of Galicia : 6th Overall

;2001 : 2nd Overall

: 4th Overall

;2002 : 1st MaillotVolta

Overall

::1st Stage 1 ( TTT) : 2nd Overall

::1st

Combination classification ::1st Stages 6 & 15 ::Held Jersey gold

after Stages 15–20 ::Held Jersey orange

after Stage 18 : 8th Overall

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 ...

: 9th Overall

;2003 : 1st Jersey gold

Overall

::1st Stage 20 : 1st Stage 4 ( TTT)

: 2nd Overall

;2004 : 1st Jersey gold

Overall

::1st

Combination classification ::1st Stage 12 ::Held Jersey granate

after Stages 12–16 : 1st Jersey blue

Overall

: 5th Overall Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas ;2005 : 1st Jersey gold

Overall

::1st Stages 6 & 15 ::Held after Stages 15–20 ::Held after Stage 6 ::Held after Stages 6–8 : 9th Overall

;2009 : 1st

Brompton World Championships The Brompton World Championship is a promotional cycling event for Brompton Bicycle Ltd that has been held in various formats and venues since 2008. The event consists primarily of a criterium race in which all competitors rode Brompton fo ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heras, Roberto 1974 births Living people People from Béjar Sportspeople from the Province of Salamanca Cyclists from Castile and León Doping cases in cycling Vuelta a España winners Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners Spanish Giro d'Italia stage winners Spanish male cyclists

Early career

Riding with Lance Armstrong

Dominating the Vuelta a España

Career achievements

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

See also

References