Joseba Beloki

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Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro (born August 12, 1973 in Lazkao (Guipúzcoa), Basque region, Spain) is a professional road bicycle racer.

Beloki turned professional in 1998 with the Euskaltel team, joined Festina in 2000, and then Team ONCE in 2001. A strong climber in the high mountains and a top performer in individual time trials, he made it to the podium in each of his first three rides in the Tour de France: in 2000 (3rd place), 2001 (3rd place) and 2002 (2nd place). In 2001, Beloki also finished first overall in the Volta a Catalunya.

On 14 July 2003, during the ninth stage of the 2003 Tour de France, Beloki was in second place overall (just 40 seconds behind Lance Armstrong) and negotiating a hairpin turn while descending the Cote de La Rochette, just 8 km from the stage finish at Gap. He lost control of his bicycle after his rear wheel lost traction on some tarmac that was softened by the sun (the road surface temperature was reported to be 50°C (125F), sending his rear wheel skidding first in one direction and then the other and shredding the rear tire. Beloki suffered a hard fall that broke his right femur in two places, his elbow and his wrist. Armstrong was following immediately behind Beloki and, to avoid the fallen rider, headed off the road to go down the hill through the underbrush and across a small field.

With Manolo Saiz's ONCE team disbanding at the end of the 2003 season, Beloki opted to sign for the French team Brioches La Boulangère (formerly bonjour.fr) in preparation for the 2004 Tour de France. He was reported as being fully recovered from his injuries by early 2004, but it later transpired that those injuries were taking longer to heal than initially anticipated. By mid-April 2004, Beloki had yet to begin serious competition for the season. He started his home race, the Tour of the Basque Country, but failed to even complete the first stage before retiring in pain from his injuries. Citing incompatibility with the French team, he switched to the Spanish Saunier Duval-Prodir team for the remainder of the 2004 season, and again "back" to Manolo Saiz's Liberty Seguros-Würth team UCI ProTour team for 2005, which was formed from the remnants of the ONCE team of old. Joseba Beloki completed the 2005 Tour de France and finished in 75th place.

In 2006, he was among those implicated in Operation Puerto, and was withdrawn from the Tour de France. However on July 26, he was cleared by Spanish officials of any wrongdoing.[1]

[edit] Major achievements

2006 – Team Astana
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2005 – Liberty Seguros-Würth
2004 – Saunier Duval-Prodir and Brioches La Boulangère
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2003 – ONCE-Eroski
2002 – ONCE-Eroski
2001 – ONCE-Eroski
2000 – Festina-Lotus
1999 – Euskaltel
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1998 – Euskaltel
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