Juan Antonio Flecha
Encyclopedia
Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (born September 17, 1977) is an Argentine
-born Spanish
professional road bicycle racer for the UCI ProTour
team .
to win a Tour de France
stage while riding for . As he rode across the finish line he performed a unique victory salute: he pantomimed releasing an arrow from a bow in homage to his family name.
The 2004 season saw him as a co-leader in the Italian Fassa Bortolo team for the Classics
and one-day races, with notable finishes in various races from the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and victories in Züri-Metzgete and the Giro del Lazio
. He often shared team leadership with Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara
, with whom he says he works very well.
The following season with Fassa Bortolo in 2005 saw podium finishes in Gent–Wevelgem and Paris–Roubaix, establishing him as one of the best one-day racers in the UCI ProTour
today. Euskaltel-Euskadi
rider Egoi Martínez
said in an interview that in a race "one should have a head and an attitude like the one Juan Antonio Flecha has," in tribute to his perseverance and positive attitude in racing.
When the Fassa Bortolo team closed down after the 2005 season, Flecha moved on to Dutch
team Rabobank
. In 2007, Flecha took 2nd in the prestigious Paris–Roubaix race. In the 2008 Vuelta a España
, Flecha displayed his sense of humor as he stole the "Moose Man"'s American flag and rode playfully with it for 200 meters. With again no victories in the 2009 season, Flecha declined a new offer from team Rabobank. He felt it was time for a new challenge.
Since 2010, he has ridden for the all new Team Sky
. He got his first major one day victory in the 2010 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with a solo breakaway. He dedicated the win to his team and to his former team mate Frank Vandenbroucke who died in October 2009. At the 2011 Tour de France
, 9th stage, Flecha was involved in a dramatic crash after he was sideswiped by a France Télévisions
car, causing fellow breakaway rider, Johnny Hoogerland
to crash into a barbed wire fence. He was treated on his bike for an injured elbow and finished the stage. He shared the Combativity award
with Hoogerland for that stage.
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
-born Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
professional road bicycle racer for the UCI ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...
team .
Career
He gained fame in 2003 when he became the first rider born in ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
to win a Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
stage while riding for . As he rode across the finish line he performed a unique victory salute: he pantomimed releasing an arrow from a bow in homage to his family name.
The 2004 season saw him as a co-leader in the Italian Fassa Bortolo team for the Classics
Classic cycle races
The classic cycle races are one-day professional cycling road races in the international calendar. Most of the events, all run in western Europe, have been fixtures on the professional calendar for decades and the oldest ones date back to the 19th Century. They are normally held at roughly the same...
and one-day races, with notable finishes in various races from the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and victories in Züri-Metzgete and the Giro del Lazio
Giro del Lazio
The Giro del Lazio is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the region of Lazio, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour....
. He often shared team leadership with Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara
Fabian Cancellara is a Swiss professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . A time trial specialist, he is a four-time World Time Trial Champion and is the current Olympic gold medalist...
, with whom he says he works very well.
The following season with Fassa Bortolo in 2005 saw podium finishes in Gent–Wevelgem and Paris–Roubaix, establishing him as one of the best one-day racers in the UCI ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...
today. Euskaltel-Euskadi
Euskaltel-Euskadi
Euskaltel-Euskadi is a professional road bicycle racing team from Spain. The team is commercially sponsored, but also works as an unofficial Basque national team and is partly funded by the Basque Government. Its riders are either from Basque Country, or at least have grown up in the cycling...
rider Egoi Martínez
Egoi Martínez
Egoi Martínez de Esteban is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Euskaltel-Euskadi. In his first Tour de France, Martínez finished 41st overall at the 2004 Tour de France....
said in an interview that in a race "one should have a head and an attitude like the one Juan Antonio Flecha has," in tribute to his perseverance and positive attitude in racing.
When the Fassa Bortolo team closed down after the 2005 season, Flecha moved on to Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
team Rabobank
Rabobank (cycling)
Rabobank is a professional bicycle racing team, sponsored by the Rabobank. The team consists of three sections: ProTeam , Continental , and Cyclo-cross...
. In 2007, Flecha took 2nd in the prestigious Paris–Roubaix race. In the 2008 Vuelta a España
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...
, Flecha displayed his sense of humor as he stole the "Moose Man"'s American flag and rode playfully with it for 200 meters. With again no victories in the 2009 season, Flecha declined a new offer from team Rabobank. He felt it was time for a new challenge.
Since 2010, he has ridden for the all new Team Sky
Team Sky
Team Sky is a British professional road bicycle racing team that competes in international road bicycle races. The creation of the team was announced on 26 February 2009 and the team began competition in January 2010....
. He got his first major one day victory in the 2010 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad with a solo breakaway. He dedicated the win to his team and to his former team mate Frank Vandenbroucke who died in October 2009. At the 2011 Tour de France
2011 Tour de France
-Pre-race favourites:2010 winner Alberto Contador was suspended from cycling during a doping investigation from September 2010 to February 2011, during which time 2010 runner-up Andy Schleck was regarded as the favourite. When the suspension was lifted, Contador declared his desire to compete in...
, 9th stage, Flecha was involved in a dramatic crash after he was sideswiped by a France Télévisions
France Télévisions
France Télévisions is the French public national television broadcaster. It is a state-owned company formed from the bringing together of the public television channels France 2 and France 3 , later joined by the legally independent channels France 5 , France Ô , and France 4 France Télévisions ...
car, causing fellow breakaway rider, Johnny Hoogerland
Johnny Hoogerland
Johnny Hoogerland is a Dutch professional cyclist riding for the Dutch Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team. Due to the prominent bull-tattoo on his arm and his roots from the peninsula of Zuid-Beveland he is nicknamed the "Bull of Beveland"....
to crash into a barbed wire fence. He was treated on his bike for an injured elbow and finished the stage. He shared the Combativity award
Combativity award
The combativity award, , is a prize given in the Tour de France. It favours constant attackers and since 1981 the winner of the award has not won the whole Tour.- History :...
with Hoogerland for that stage.
Palmarès
2003- 1st Stage 11 Tour de France2003 Tour de FranceThe 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...
2004
- 1st Züri-Metzgete
- 1st Giro del LazioGiro del LazioThe Giro del Lazio is a semi classic European bicycle race held in the region of Lazio, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour....
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
2005
- 1st Stage 4 Volta a la Comunitat ValencianaVolta a la Comunitat ValencianaThe Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community , Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often used as preparation for the spring classics or the grand tours which take place later in the season.No editions of the race have been...
- 2nd Gent–Wevelgem
- 3rd Paris–Roubaix
- 9th HEW Cyclassics
2006
- 2nd GP Ouest-France
- 4th Paris–Roubaix
- 7th Overall Eneco Tour
2007
- 2nd Paris–Roubaix
2008
- 1st Overall Circuit Franco-BelgeCircuit Franco-BelgeThe Tour de Wallonie-Picarde is a stage race cycling race held annually in Belgium and France. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour- Winners :...
- 2nd Stage 4
- 3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen2008 Ronde van VlaanderenThe 2008 Tour of Flanders cycle race was the 92nd edition of this monumental classic and took place on April 6. The course was 264 km long and went from Brugge to Meerbeke....
2009
- 3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 6th Paris–Roubaix
2010
- 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 3rd E3 Prijs VlaanderenE3 Prijs VlaanderenThe E3 Harelbeke is an annual cycling race in the Flanders area of Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke over 210 kilometres. The event is organised by the Hand in Hand Cycling Club of Harelbeke and is ranked 1.HC on the UCI Continental calendar....
- 3rd Paris–Roubaix2010 Paris–RoubaixThe 2010 edition of the Paris–Roubaix cycling classic took place on April 11, 2010. The race is the ninth event in the inaugural UCI World Ranking series. The race was won by Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara.- Teams :...
- Tour de France2010 Tour de FranceThe 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...
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Stage 13
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2011
- 2nd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 9th Paris–Roubaix2011 Paris–RoubaixThe 2011 Paris–Roubaix was the 109th running of the Paris–Roubaix single-day cycling race, often known as the Hell of the North. It was held on 10 April 2011 over a distance of and was the ninth race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season....
- Tour de France2011 Tour de France-Pre-race favourites:2010 winner Alberto Contador was suspended from cycling during a doping investigation from September 2010 to February 2011, during which time 2010 runner-up Andy Schleck was regarded as the favourite. When the suspension was lifted, Contador declared his desire to compete in...
- Stage 9
-