Abraham Olano

Personal information

Full name

Abraham Olano Manzano

Born

January 22, 1970
Anoeta, Spain

Height

1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)

Weight

70 kg (150 lb; 11 st)

Team information

Current team

Retired

Discipline

Road

Role

Rider

Rider type

Time-trialist

Amateur team(s)

Kaiku, AVSA

Professional team(s)

1992

CHCS

1992

Lotus

1993

CLAS Cajastur

1994–1997

Mapei

1997–1998

Banesto

1999–2001

ONCE

Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France

1 Stage

Vuelta a España

General Classification (1998)

5 Stages

One-day races and Classics

World Road Race Champion (1995)

World Time Trial Champion (1998)

National Road Race Champion (1994)

National Time Trial Champion (1994, 1998)

Medal record

Competitor for Spain
Road bicycle racing
Olympic Games
Silver	1996 Atlanta	Individual Time Trial
World Championships
Gold	1995 Duitama	Elite Men's Road Race
Gold	1998 Valkenburg	Elite Men's Time Trial
Silver	1995 Duitama	Elite Men's Time Trial

Infobox last updated on
20 February 2009

Abraham Olano Manzano (born January 22, 1970 in Anoeta, Gipuzkoa) is a Spanish former professional road racing cyclist. His highest achievement was in 1995 when he became World Road Champion. In 1998 he won the World Time Trial Championship.

Amateur career

Olano started racing 11 years old at the Oria Cycling school, and already at junior level he won several races.^[1] Later, Olano went to track racing. He became Spanish Champion in pursuit (together with Etxegoyen, Pérez and Juárez), in the 1 km with standing start and in sprint.^[1] In road racing, he started as an amateur for Kaiku and AVSA. He was specialized in sprinting.

Professional career

In 1992, Olano started his professional career at CHCS. This team shortly after disbanded, and he moved to Lotus. With Lotus, Olano won his first professional race, the Gran Premio de Villafranca de Ordizia in Gipuzkoa.^[1]

In 1993, Olano switched to CLAS Cajastur, which was later merged with Mapei. Here, he started to win important races, such as the Vuelta a Asturias and the Spanish National Road Race Championships, both in road race and time trial.

In 1995, Olano won three stages in the Vuelta a España, finishing second in overall classification to Laurent Jalabert.^[1] Later in the year Olano was a vital part of a hugely successful Spanish team at the World Cycling Championship in Colombia. In the time trial, Olano took silver, finishing second to Miguel Indurain. In the Road race, the top two positions was reversed, with Olano taking the Championship and Indurain silver. The route was one of the hardest courses ever for a World Championship, and Olano showed his stamina by riding the last kilometer solo with a flat tyre.

On account of results and - and some physical simularities - Olano was seen by many supporters as the successor to five-times Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain.

Olano established his abilities in stage races in 1996; he won the Tour de Romandie, finished third in the Giro d'Italia (leading the race at the second to last day), and finished ninth in the Tour de France. He also won the silver medal in the time trial at the 1996 Olympic Games.^[1]

Olano finished fourth in the 1997 Tour de France, taking 1 stage win - a long time trial in Disneyland, ahead of the eventual Tour winner Jan Ullrich.

In 1998, Olano won his only grand tour, the Vuelta a España.^[1] Despite the victory, Olano was reportedly not happy with the support from the Banesto team and management. Banestos mountain specialist José Maria Jimenez took 4 stage wins, on several occasions leaving Olano alone on the climbs, and even taking the Yellow Jersey from his team captain. Olano won back the jersey on the second time trial, but the events and subsequent media speculation soured his relationship with Banesto, and he decided for a switch to the ONCE team for the following season.

Olano finished 1998 in style, winning the World Championship Time Trial i Valkenburg, ahead of compatriot Melchior Mauri. Olano is the only male rider of the modern era to win the world Championship in both the Road race (1995) and the time trial (1998).

In 1999, Olano switched to the Spanish ONCE team and remained there through the end of his career in 2001. His highest achievement in that period was 2nd place in the 2001 Giro d'Italia.^[1]

Doping revelations

Olano is one of the people responsible for designing stages for the Vuelta a España.^[1] He was fired from this position after a report from the French senate revealed that he had delivered a suspicious sample during the 1998 Tour de France, indicating use of EPO.^[2]

In November 2006 he ran the San Sebastian marathon in a time of 2:39:19.