José Luis Rubiera Vigil (born 27 January 1973 in Gijón) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He last rode for the UCI ProTour team Team RadioShack. Rubiera won his first professional race at the 1997 Giro d'Italia, winning stage 19. He won another stage in the 2000 Giro d'Italia[1] and was part of three consecutive team time trial (TTT) stage wins in the Tour de France.
 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | José Luis Rubiera Vigil |
| Nickname | Chechu |
| Born | January 27, 1973 Gijón, Spain |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 69 kg (152 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Professional teams | |
| 1995 | Artiach–Chiquilin |
| 1996–2000 | Kelme–Artiach |
| 2001–2007 | U.S. Postal Service |
| 2008–2009 | Astana |
| 2010 | Team RadioShack |
| Major wins | |
| Grand Tours | |
He has also finished in the top 10 of both the Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia, on two occasions apiece.[2]
His climbing ability was instrumental in leading Lance Armstrong to five of his Tour de France victories, most famously leading Armstrong up the start of Alpe d'Huez in 2001. It was also on this stage that "The Look" incident happened between Armstrong and Jan Ullrich just prior to Armstrong's launch of his attack. In reality, Armstrong was not looking at Ullrich, but rather at Rubiera as he was checking to be sure Rubiera would be there to save him if he cracked and his attack failed.
He earned an engineering degree in 2004, while balancing his race schedule and studies. Rubiera was elected as deputy to the cyclists' representative council of the UCI ProTour.
Career achievements
editMajor results
edit- 1997
- 10th Overall, Giro d'Italia
- 1st, Stage 19
- 1999
- 1st Overall, Volta ao Alentejo
- 1st, Stage 3b (ITT)
- 6th Overall, Vuelta a España
- 2000
- 1st, Subida al Naranco
- 8th Overall, Giro d'Italia
- 1st, Stage 13
- 2001
- 2nd Overall, Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st, King of the Mountains
- 7th Overall, Vuelta a España
- 2002
- 2nd Overall, Vuelta a Burgos
- 2003
- 1st, Stage 4 (TTT), Tour de France
- 2004
- 1st, Stage 4 (TTT), Tour de France
- 2nd, Châteauroux Classic
- 2005
- 1st, Stage 4 (TTT), Tour de France
- 3rd Overall, Volta ao Algarve
- 2006
- 3rd Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 9th Overall, Paris–Nice
- 10th Overall, Volta ao Algarve
- 2007
- 1st, Stage 8, Tour of Qinghai Lake
- 2008
- 1st, Stage 2, Vuelta a Murcia
- 2009
- 10th Overall, Tour of California
- 2010
- 10th Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
edit| Grand Tour | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | 10 | 13 | DNF | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | 39 | 15 | 44 |
| Tour de France | — | — | — | — | 38 | 22 | 19 | 19 | 35 | 91 | — | — | — |
| Vuelta a España | — | 26 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 51 | 80 | — | — | — | 85 | 22 | DNF |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References
edit- ^ McGann Publishing, Bike Race Info (4 June 2000). "Giro 2000". Bikeraceinfo.com. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ^ Report, Race (26 September 1999). "Vuelta a España 1999". procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
External links
edit- José Luis Rubiera at UCI
- José Luis Rubiera at Cycling Archives (archived)
- José Luis Rubiera at ProCyclingStats
- José Luis Rubiera at Cycling Quotient
- José Luis Rubiera at CycleBase