Rui Alberto Faria da CostaComIH (born 5 October 1986) is a Portuguese professionalroad bicycle racer, who rides forUCI WorldTeamEF Education–EasyPost.[7] He is best known for winning the2013 UCI Road World Championships inTuscany, Italy (the first Portuguese rider to do so), three stages of theTour de France in2011 and2013, one stage in theVuelta a España in2023, and the2012,2013 and2014 editions of theTour de Suisse, becoming the first cyclist to win the event for three consecutive years.[8]
Born inAguçadoura,Póvoa de Varzim, Costa started his career at Guilhabreu, a civil parish ofVila do Conde, then went to Santa Maria da Feira.
Costa became a professional cyclist atBenfica in 2007, and switched toCaisse d'Epargne in 2009. In 2009, Costa won theFour Days of Dunkirk, followed by a win on stage 8 of the2010 Tour de Suisse.
In 2010, Costa was involved in an altercation withCarlos Barredo at the end of Stage 6 of theTour de France, with Barredo removing his front wheel and attempting to club Costa with it before both riders lobbed blows at each other. Both were fined 300 francs for the incident.[9]
At the Portuguese national championships in June 2010 Costa and his brotherMário tested positive for the banned substancemethylhexanamine,[10] which they claimed to have ingested inadvertently due to a tainted food supplement. Further testing proved that to be the case,[11] and he re-signed with his former team, then known asMovistar Team, in April 2011 after five months of suspension.[2]
In 2011, Costa performed well in theVuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid: after second places in the first and third stages, he won the overall classification.[12] Later that season, Costa rode away solo to winstage 8 of theTour de France.[13][14] Following his previous successes, Costa won theGrand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, sprinting away from a late breakaway, beating breakaway companionPierrick Fédrigo. Both were chased byPhilippe Gilbert, who made a late counter-attack, but came two seconds short.[15]
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In 2012, Costa finished third in the General classification of theTour de Romandie.[16] He won stage 2 in theTour de Suisse, took the race's lead and successfully defended the yellow jersey through the Tour.[17] He hung on to his 14-second overall lead over second-placedFränk Schleck in the last stage, where Schleck attacked on the slopes of theGlaubenberg Pass. Schleck crested the climb with an advantage of a minute over Costa, but was reeled back in along the descent by the small group containing Costa. The pair finished the stage at the same time.[18] He said after the important win:"I want to dedicate this to the team, because my teammates worked magnificently all week. I have no words to describe it."[19] Costa headed to theTour de France, slated to ride in support of his leaderAlejandro Valverde, but crashes and incidents plagued Valverde,[20] who still managed to grab a stage win and finished 20th overall. Costa placed higher than his captain in the general classification at 18th.[21] He then participated in theGP Ouest-France, where he settled for second place of the French classic. He escaped on the last climb of the day with 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to go, butTeam Sky'sEdvald Boasson Hagen passed him in the final kilometre, and Costa protected his second place as the surging peloton crossed the finish line on his heels.[22] In September, he headed to the Canadian province ofQuebec to take part in the two World Tour races held there. He took the third step of the podium in theGrand Prix Cycliste de Québec, winning the sprint of a group of 16 riders in hot pursuit of the two escapees,Simon Gerrans andGreg Van Avermaet, who finished four seconds ahead of Costa.[23] Two days later, he aimed at defending his title in theGrand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, but finished eighth, once again with a 4-second deficit over the winner,Lars Petter Nordhaug.[24] He concluded his season in China at theTour of Beijing, scoring another top ten overall placing with ninth.
In 2013,[25] Costa started the year by winning theKlasika Primavera and finishing third in theTour de Romandie and also aimed to defend hisTour de Suisse title.[26] He later successfully defended his title after winning stage seven, and then taking the yellow jersey fromMathias Frank after winning the final stage, a hill climb time trial.[27] In theTour de France, Costa left the Pyrenees inside the top ten. On stage 13, Costa lost close to ten minutes after going back to try to help his team leader, Valverde, who suffered a puncture. On stage 16, Costa ended up on a breakaway where he attacked on the last climb of the day, the Col de Manse before the final downhill to a solo finish in Gap.[28] He was also awarded the combativity prize of that stage. A few days later, Costa won stage 19 after escaping from the lead group on the Col de la Croix Fry; he ended up with another solo finish in Le Grand-Bornand.
Costa won the elite men's race at theUCI Road World Championships in Tuscany, Italy, becoming the first Portuguese rider to wear the rainbow jersey. After the race, Costa said:"After theTour, the goal was to reach the World Cup in the best possible conditions and make a good race. But I never thought I could win a race as important as this. It means everything to me. It is the reward for a lifetime of effort and hard work."[29][30]
Costa left the Movistar Team at the end of the 2013 season, and joinedLampre–Merida for the 2014 season.[3]
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Costa started the 2014 season by taking third place and the points classification jersey in theVolta ao Algarve. He then finished second overall inParis–Nice and, for the third consecutive year, claimed third place in theTour de Romandie. Costa's first win of the season in the world champion's rainbow jersey occurred in the last stage of theTour de Suisse. With this victory, Costa took the yellow jersey fromTony Martin and successfully defended his title, thus becoming the first cyclist to win Tour de Suisse three consecutive times.
Costa entered theTour de France with high hopes, aiming for a podium finish, but started to lose touch with the front riders due tobronchitis.[31] During the second rest day, his health condition worsened and he was diagnosed withbronchopneumonia. Ranked 13th in the general classification, Costa was forced to withdraw from the Tour.[32] He returned toUCI World Tour competition at theGP Ouest-France, crossing the finish line in 92nd place, 11 seconds behind winnerSylvain Chavanel.[33] Costa then competed in theGrand Prix Cycliste de Québec and theGrand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, securing a runner-up place in the latter race, behind Simon Gerrans.
Costa went to theUCI Road World Championships inPonferrada, Spain, with the aim of defending his road race title; he finished in 23rd place, seven seconds behind the winner and his successor,Michał Kwiatkowski of Poland.[34][35]
Costa took fourth place in the general classification ofParis–Nice as a first notable result, thanks in part to a third place on the time trial upCol d'Èze.[36] He finished seventh in the mountainousWorld Tour race, theTour of the Basque Country. He also grabbed the fourth place in theAmstel Gold Race, whereMichał Kwiatkowski imposed himself;[37] a week later he would come again in fourth place atLiège–Bastogne–Liège. He decided not to go defend his title at theTour de Suisse, which he had won three times in a row. He participated in the concurrentCritérium du Dauphiné instead.[38] Costa won the sixth stage of the race after being in the breakaway for most of the day, passingVincenzo Nibali near the finish line.[39] A week before theTour de France, Costa won thePortuguese National Road Race Championships. At the Tour de France, he retired due to injuries picked up in a crash, leading him to announce he would ride for stage wins in the future.[40]
He was named in the start list for the2017 Giro d'Italia.[41]
Source:[42]
OverallGiro delle Regioni
OverallFour Days of Dunkirk
Young rider classification
Mountains classification
Time trial, National Road Championships Young rider classification OverallVuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid
Points classification OverallTour de Suisse
Road race,UCI Road World ChampionshipsTime trial, National Road Championships OverallTour de Suisse
Combativity award Stage 16 OverallTour de Suisse Points classificationRoad race, National Road ChampionshipsCombativity award Stage 19Tour de France
OverallAbu Dhabi TourRoad race OverallVolta a la Comunitat ValencianaRoad race| Grand Tour general classification results | ||||||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | — | 44 | — | — |
| Tour de France | DNF | 73 | 90 | 18 | 27 | DNF | DNF | 49 | — | — | 53 | — | 77 | — | 67 | 68 |
 /Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 43 | — | — | 44 | — | — | 41 | DNF |
| Major stage race general classification results | ||||||||||||||||
| Major stage race | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Paris–Nice | — | — | — | — | DNF | 2 | 4 | 10 | — | DNF | — | — | 55 | — | — | — |
 Tirreno–Adriatico | 145 | 60 | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | 10 | 28 | — | — | — | — |
 Volta a Catalunya | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NH | DNF | 69 | — | — |
| Tour of the Basque Country | — | — | — | 15 | 13 | 51 | 7 | 7 | — | 12 | — | — | — | DNF | — | |
| Tour de Romandie | — | — | 18 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 6 | — | 5 | 2 | 13 | — | DNF | — | |
 Critérium du Dauphiné | — | — | 43 | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de Suisse | 13 | 34 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 7 | 5 | — | 56 | NH | 7 | DNF | DNF | 38 |
| Monument | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | 79 | 49 | — | 51 | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour of Flanders | 113 | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | 58 | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NH | — | — | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | DNF | — | DNF | 17 | 9 | DNF | 4 | 3 | 14 | 22 | DNF | 40 | 63 | — | 31 | — |
| Giro di Lombardia | 26 | — | 25 | 38 | 38 | 3 | 46 | 15 | 54 | 38 | DNF | — | — | — | 13 | DNF |
| Classic | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Strade Bianche | — | — | — | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | 39 | — | — | 4 | — |
| Amstel Gold Race | 120 | — | DNF | 19 | DNF | 17 | 4 | 17 | 38 | 27 | 13 | NH | 54 | — | 32 | — |
| La Flèche Wallonne | — | — | DNF | 18 | 32 | 53 | 28 | 10 | 31 | 19 | 26 | 85 | DNS | — | — | — |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | — | — | 99 | — | — | — | 95 | — | — | — | 49 | NH | — | 44 | 8 | — |
| Bretagne Classic | — | — | 51 | 2 | 69 | 92 | 26 | 31 | — | 30 | — | DNF | — | — | — | — |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | NH | — | 11 | 3 | 5 | 33 | 24 | 13 | — | 16 | 41 | Not held | 102 | — | — | |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | — | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 49 | — | 6 | 7 | DNF | — | — | |||
| Event | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Olympic Games | Road race | Not held | 13 | Not held | 10 | Not held | — | Not held | 46 | ||||||||
| Time trial | — | — | — | 25 | |||||||||||||
| World Championships | Road race | 69 | — | 15 | 11 | 1 | 23 | 9 | — | 19 | 10 | 10 | 26 | — | — | — | 42 |
| Time trial | — | — | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
 European Championships | Road race | Race did not exist | 6 | — | DNF | — | 29 | 18 | — | — | — | ||||||
| Time trial | — | — | — | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
| National Championships | Road race | 2 | DSQ | — | — | 11 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | 1 |
| Time trial | — | DSQ | — | — | 1 | 2 | 8 | — | — | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | 3 | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| DNS | Did not start |
| DSQ | Disqualified |
| IP | In progress |
| NH | Not held |
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Portuguese Sportsman of the Year 2012–2014 | Succeeded by |
| UCI Road World Champions –Men's road race | |
|---|---|
| 1927–1938 |
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| 1946–1959 |
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| 1960–1979 |
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| 1980–1999 |
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| 2000–2019 |
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| 2020–2039 | |
Tour de Suisse winners | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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