| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Igor González de Galdeano Aranzábal | ||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Speedy González | ||||||||||||||
| Born | (1973-11-01)1 November 1973 (age 52) Vitoria-Gasteiz,Spain | ||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||
| Current team | Retired | ||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider (retired) Team manager | ||||||||||||||
| Rider type | Time trialist Climber | ||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | |||||||||||||||
| 1995–1998 | Equipo Euskadi | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Vitalicio Seguros | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2005 | ONCE–Eroski | ||||||||||||||
| Managerial teams | |||||||||||||||
| 2006–2011 | Euskaltel–Euskadi | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Euskaltel–Euskadi | ||||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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Igor González de Galdeano Aranzábal (born 1 November 1973) is a Spanish former professionalroad bicycle racer and most recently, the team manager ofUCI ProTeamEuskaltel–Euskadi.[1] Following a promising start to his career atVitalicio Seguros, where he finished the1999 Vuelta a España in second place, González de Galdeano became a key rival ofLance Armstrong in the middle of hisTour de France supremacy. In the2002 Tour de France, González de Galdeano wore the yellow jersey for seven days and in the2003 Vuelta a España wore the gold jersey for one day. At an average speed of 55.17 km/h, González de Galdeano also holds the record for the fastest stage win in the Vuelta a España, a feat which earned him the nicknameSpeedy González.[2]
González de Galdeano turned professional in 1995 with the Basque teamEquipo Euskadi,[3] which at the time was only in its second year of racing and suffering from financial hardship.[4] During his three seasons at Euskadi, González de Galdeano achieved two stage victories and a number of sprints and mountains classifications.[3] For the 1999 season, González de Galdeano moved on to the Spanish Vitalicio Seguros team, and it was in this season that González de Galdeano made a name for himself on the domestic racing scene. Early in the season, González de Galdeano won stage five[5] and finished fifth in the general classification of theTirreno–Adriatico[6] and adding three more top ten placings in regional Spanish stage races through the season.[3]
Yet, González de Galdeano saved his best for theVuelta a España in September. González de Galdeano won two stages – a 6 km prologue aroundMurcia[7] and a mountain stage which finished inArcalis,Andorra.[8] Despite his excellenttime-trialling skills, González de Galdeano eventually missed out on claiming the overall victory of the race when he lost nearly four minutes to the eventual race winnerJan Ullrich on the penultimate stage,[9] a time-trial, and so finished second.[10] González de Galdeano also missed out on the points classification on the final stage when, having taken a lead into the final day,Frank Vandenbroucke was able to breakaway from thepeloton and claim the points in intermediate sprints.[10]
Following a lacklustre 2000 season and the demise of the Vitalicio Seguros squad, González de Galdeano moved to one of the top Spanish teams inONCE–Eroski,[3] run byManolo Saiz. ONCE targeted the Tour de France as well as the Vuelta a España, so González de Galdeano was able to start his first Tour in2001.[11] ONCE had a fresh look in this 88th edition of the Tour:Laurent Jalabert andAbraham Olano were gone and the new team leader wasJoseba Beloki, who had finished third the previous year forFestina.[12] It was in this Tour that González de Galdeano first demonstrated his excellent time-trialling skills to the world beyond Spain, placing second in both the short prologue aroundDunkirk[13] and also the 61 km test fromMontlucon toSaint Amand Montrond.[14] González de Galdeano ultimately finished fifth in the Tour and helped Beloki to a second consecutive third place.[15] González de Galdeano also had another goodVuelta, placing fourth in the first stage time-trial[16] and winning a road stage intoZaragoza, breaking clear in the final kilometre to win the fastest ever stage in the Vuelta a España at 55.176 km/h[17] and hence coining his nickname,Speedy González.[2]
In 2002, with an increasing reputation as a time-triallist who was competent in the mountains, González de Galdeano formed a small rivalry with Lance Armstrong, the1993 World Cycling Champion and already three-time winner of the Tour.[18] In theGP Midi Libre, González de Galdeano beat Armstrong in the time-trial[19] and, following an intense ride by Armstrong in the mountains, eventually finished second in the general classification to him.[20] Battle was resumed at the Tour de France, when in the team time trial ONCE-Eroski beat Armstrong'sU.S. Postal Service squad by 16 seconds to be clear of theAmerican by 7 seconds.[21] González de Galdeano was able to retain the yellow jersey of race leader for seven stages.[22] Although Armstrong did overhaul González de Galdeano and Beloki to claim his fourth Tour, ONCE improved their performance over the previous year: Beloki moved up a step on the podium to second and was clearly Armstrong's principal threat, González de Galdeano once again finished fifth, and with strong riding from team mateJosé Azevedo, who finished sixth, ONCE was able to claim the team competition.[23] González de Galdeano also added the Spanish national time trial[24] and the overall classification in theDeutschland Tour[25] to his record, along with a bronze medal in theworld time trial championships inZolder.[26]
A doping ban prevented González de Galdeano from taking part in the2003 Tour de France.[27] González de Galdeano was adjudicated by the French authorities to have doped, for his use of theasthma drugsalbutamol. However, theUCI did not count this as a positive test so no sanction was applied. However, the French authorities took a more stringent line and prevented him for racing on French soil for six months, over the period of the Tour. Also, González de Galdeano had a good showing at the Deutschland Tour, finishing second on the fifth stage. However, on the penultimate stage, he crashed and broke his collarbone.[28] As such, the planned appeal against the French ban became academic and González de Galdeano had to wait for the Vuelta. The2003 Vuelta proved to be González de Galdeano's lastGrand Tour as a leading protagonist. González de Galdeano went into the Vuelta as ONCE team leader, however, young team mateIsidro Nozal rode well throughout, until the penultimate stage, a time trial in which he lost over two minutes toRoberto Heras, the eventual race winner.[29] González de Galdeano finished fourth overall.[30]
By the time the2004 Vuelta had started, González de Galdeano had fallen to the role of domestique for new team leader Heras and his lieutenant Nozal. González de Galdeano retired on his 32nd birthday, on 1 November 2005. He stated that he decided to retire at this relatively young age as "I realized in the lastTour de France that I lost my motivation."[31]
As of 2006[update], González de Galdeano combined studying atBasque Institute of Physical Education (IVEF) with being a technical secretary at the Euskaltel-Euskadi team, where he had started his professional career in 1995. At Euskaltel, González de Galdeano's brief was to manage the team's training and to schedule the team's itineraries through the season.
after Prologue
after Stages 18–20
OverallGran Premio Mosqueteros-Ruta del Marqués
Time trial, National Road Championships OverallDeutschland Tour
Time trial,UCI Road World Championships after Stages 4–10,
&
after Stage 1| Grand Tour | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia | Did not contest during career | ||||||||||
 Tour de France | — | — | — | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | — | 44 | DNF |
/ Vuelta a España | — | 106 | 42 | DNF | 2 | DNF | DNF | DNF | 4 | 96 | 90 |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
According to a story in Basque daily Deia, the 29-year-old domestique received the news in a phone call from returning team manager Igor González de Galdeano.
during 1996 the team failed to qualify and its financially precarious set up was highlighted by delays in paying the riders during August 1996
