Íñigo Cuesta

Íñigo Cuesta López de Castro (born 2 June 1969 in Villarcayo, Burgos) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. Cuesta turned professional in 1994 for the Basque Euskadi–Petronor team. Here his results included a second place in 1995 Vuelta a Asturias, and in 1996 he signed a contract with Spanish team ONCE. Cuesta would have to wait until 1998 before he won his first race, the overall victory in the stage race Tour of the Basque Country. In securing the stage race win, he proved his talent as both a climber and time trialist, though not on the level of the Grand Tours.

Íñigo Cuesta
Personal information
Full nameÍñigo Cuesta López de Castro
Born (1969-06-03) June 3, 1969
Villarcayo, Spain
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 12 in)
Weight62 kg (137 lb; 9 st 11 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeDomestique/Climber
Professional teams
1994–1995Euskadi–Petronor
1996–2000ONCE
2001–2004Cofidis
2005Saunier Duval–Prodir
2006–2008Team CSC
2009–2010Cervélo TestTeam
2011Caja Rural
Major wins
Tour of the Basque Country (1998)

Even though he won a second triumph, a stage in the 2000 Dauphiné Libéré, he didn't get his contract renewed. Instead he signed with Cofidis, after his initial new employer, Linda McCartney Racing Team, went bankrupt before the season started. His four years at Cofidis didn't provide Cuesta with any more wins, his biggest result a 13th place in the 2001 Vuelta a España. In 2005 he changed to Saunier Duval–Prodir, where he won stage 5 in Volta a Catalunya, during the early ProTour season. Though he still had one year remaining of his contract, Íñigo Cuesta changed to Team CSC before the 2006 season. Here he assisted team captain Carlos Sastre in the Vuelta a España.

Cuesta continued to help Sastre in 2009, after the announcement that he changed team and joined the new Cervélo TestTeam.

During the 2010 Vuelta a España, Cuesta started for the 17th consecutive year, a new record. To commemorate this, the race organizers gave him jersey number one, normally worn by the winner of the previous edition.[1]

He announced his retirement in August 2011 after his team were not selected for the 2011 Vuelta a España.[2]

Major results

1995
2nd Overall Vuelta a Asturias
8th Overall Euskal Bizikleta
1996
2nd Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
3rd Overall Vuelta a Burgos
3rd Overall Vuelta a Mallorca
3rd Classique des Alpes
5th Subida a Urkiola
6th Overall Paris-Nice
1997
4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
5th Overall Tour of Galicia
1998
1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón
6th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
1999
10th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
2000
Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
1st Mountains classification
1st Stage 6
2002
7th Overall Critérium International
10th Overall Tour de Romandie
2004
1st Mountains classification Tour du Limousin
9th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
2005
Volta a Catalunya
1st Mountains classification
1st Stage 5
2006
1st Stage 4 Giro d'Italia (TTT)
7th Overall Deutschland Tour
2008
5th Overall Tour de Georgia
6th Overall Vuelta a Murcia
2009
8th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

References

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