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Top 10 Spanish riders of all time
10. Joaquim Rodriguez
10th on our list of top Spanish riders is current pro Joaquim Rodriguez. He is one of
the few riders to have finished on the podium at all three of the Grand Tours, although
as yet, he hasn't won one.
Rodriguez has twice finished a season as the number one ranked rider in the world, and
he has also taken victories at the one day classics Fleche Wallone and the Tour of Lombardy.
9. Abraham Olano
Abraham Olano's career spanned from 1995 to 2002, and in that time, he won both the Time
trial and Road world Championships. The latter was in 1995 in Colombia where he beat team
mate Miguel Indurain and Marco Pantani.
1998 was his most successful year. He won a stage and the general classification of
the Vuelta a Espana, before taking the World TT champs.
Olano also finished on the podium twice at the Giro d'Italia, but fell short at the Tour
de France, with 4th place in 1997 his best placing.
8. Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre was a pro for 14 years, and always focussed on Grand Tours. He completed
25 of them in total, and on 16 occasions finished in the top 10. He won at least one stage AND
finished on the podium in all three of the Grand Tours, but his biggest result came in
2008, when he won the Tour de France.
Sastre retired at the end of 2011, after one year with the Geox team.
7. Alejandro Valverde
Alejandro Valverde seems to have been around forever, and that's probably because he turned
professional at the young age of 21.
It didn't take him long to show his talent, though, in his 2nd year as a pro he won 2
stages and came 3rd overall at the Vuelta. He went on to win that race in 2009, and although
it's his only Grand Tour overall victory to date, he's never finished outside the top
5 at the Vuelta, and also has 3 top 10's at the Tour de France.
Valverde is also an accomplised one day rider, and has won Liege Bastogne Liege twice, and
Fleche Wallone and San Sebastien once each. To date, he has 41 career victories.
6. Pedro Delgado
Born in 1960, Pedro Delgado turned pro at the age of 22 with the Reynolds team, where
he spent three seasons. It was in 1985, though, that he took his first major success, winning
the Vuelta in his 4th participation at the race. He won the race again in 1989, but his
biggest success had come the previous year, in 1988, when he won the Tour de France.
His defence of that title though did not start well - he arrived at the start of the prologue
2 minutes and 40 seconds after his start time.
Delgado retired at the end of the 1994 season, having made the top 10 of a Grand Tour on
an incredible 17 occasions.
5. Luis Ocana
Luis Ocana was the 2nd ever Spanish rider to win the Tour de France, in 1973, winning
an amazing 6 stages along the way. 3 years earlier he had taken the overall victory at
the Vuelta, and it was in that race that he was most consistent. Of 8 finishes, he was
in the top 4 seven times, 3 of those being the runner up spot.
Ocana was a great time triallist, but he also won the Spanish National Championships on
two occasions. In total, he won 110 races before retiring in 1977.
In 1994, Ocana committed suicide, suffering from depression and cancer.
4. Federico Bahamontes
Federico Bahamontes was the first spanish winner of the Tour de France in 1959. Known
as the eagle of Toledo due to his climbing ability, he won the KOM jersey on 6 occasions
at the Tour, twice at the Vuelta and once at the Giro, and also won at least one stage
of each.
At 85, Bahamontes is still alive and well, and was recently voted the best climber ever
by the French sports newspaper l'Equipe.
3. Oscar Freire
A rarity in Spanish cycling, Oscar Freire was a one day specialist. He burst onto the
scene in 1999 when he won the World Road Race Championships as a relative unknown. He went
on to winn it again in 2001, and 2004.
The other race he grew to love was Milan San Remo, which he also won on three occasions.
Freire won 7 stages of the Vuelta, and 4 at the Tour de France, and there, in 2008, he
also won the green jersey competition.
After 15 years as a pro, Freire called it a day and hung up his wheels at the end of
2012.
2. Alberto Contador
Alberto Contador is the most successful Grand Tour rider of the modern era. He has won the
Tour de France twice, the Vuelta twice and the Giro once. He had also won the Tour and
Giro on another occasion, but those titles were subsequently stripped after he was banned
for doping.
Contador's other general classification wins are extensive, and include at least two victories
in the Tour of the Basque Country, Volta Algarve, Vuelta Castilla y Leon and Paris Nice.
1. Miguel Indurain
Miguel Indurain dominated the Tour de France in the early 90's. His first participation
at the race came in 1987, where he finished anonymously in 97th place. After a steady
progression, though, he took the first of 5 straight victories in 1991.
Indurain dominated the time trials, and simply had to defend his advantage in the mountains.
His success wasn't confined to France though, he also rode the Giro three times, winning
twice and finishing 3rd once. However he never quite managed to win his home race, with 2nd
place in 1991 his best result.
Indurain used his skills against the clock to take the World TT title in 1995, and the
Olympics in 96.
Indurain's dominance came to an end in 1996, where he was beaten at the Tour by Bjarne
Riis. His team then forced him to ride the Vuelta, which he pulled out of, and he retired
soon after.