Igor Antón
Four stages of Vuelta a España a stage of the Giro d' Italia
Igor Antón Hernández ( born March 2, 1983 in Galdácano, Spain) is a Basque cyclist. Igor Antón is since 2005 a professional cyclist in the team Euskaltel -Euskadi and is considered a climbing specialist. In 2006 he won a mountain stage of the Vuelta a España.
Biography
Youth
During his time as a junior, he won 13 victories. In September 2004 he made his debut in the Tour de l' Avenir internships in a team Euskaltel -Euskadi.
Professional
After only a few months as a professional Igor Antón impressed at the Giro d' Italia in 2005, where he even drew up the rank of captain during the race before Samuel Sánchez.
2006 won Igor Antón as 23- year-old the 16th stage of the Vuelta a Espana, a difficult mountain stage with target at the Calar Alto Observatory on 2168 meters above sea level, his first professional win at all. At the end of the tour, he finished 15th in the overall standings. He also won a stage and the overall classification of the Escalada a Montjuïc.
The following year he won a rainy mountain top finish of the Tour de Romandie in 2007 and finished seventh overall. His first Tour de France, he finished after the eleventh stage, but drove a very good Vuelta a España as a helper of his friend and captain Samuel Sanchez, who finished the Vuelta as a third party. Antón even reached the eighth place in the overall standings.
After a season marked by injuries launch in 2008, Igor Anton won a stage of the Tour de Suisse, wore several days the yellow leaders jersey and eventually became third in the tour. He renounced the Tour de France, to prepare for the Vuelta a España in 2008. After a good situation for his time trial in Ciudad Real, where he lost to the stage winner Levi Leipheimer only two and a half minutes, he was always in the Pyrenees to the favorite group. As a sixth in the standings, he crashed in the last exit before the mountain classification and had the Vuelta and the season end.
After his lengthy injury fall of the previous year 's season of 2009 was in default. The Tour de France, he finished after several falls as 66th in the Vuelta a España he was 33
Surprisingly won Antón 2010, the queen stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León in front of Alberto Contador and took the leader's jersey, which he had to give up after the final time trial back to Contador, however. Antón rode a very good spring at the Ardennes classics with a fourth place at the Flèche Wallonne and Liège -Bastogne at a sixth -Liège. In the Vuelta a España 2010 Antón reached the third place in the third stage and won a day after the fourth stage. On the eighth stage he held the connection to the favorites and took the leader's jersey, which he had to give up due to a time credit on the tenth stage again to Joaquim Rodríguez. With his victory at the eleventh stage he won this one day later back again. On the 14th stage Antón crashed and had to abandon the race.
In the 2011 Giro d'Italia, he won the stage on the dreaded Monte Zoncolan, which has 10.1 kilometers an average gradient of 11.9% with ramps of up to 22%. With his victory, he took third overall, the following day, however, he could not defend this due to the efforts of the previous day. From now on, he placed himself in the service of his teammates Mikel Nieve and reached the 18th place in the overall standings. In the Vuelta a España he won the 19th stage in Bilbao alone. For him, Basque as it was a very special victory he was able to celebrate in the Basque Country. In the overall standings, he was, however, fallen very far.
His first good finishes in 2012 drove an Anton at the Vuelta a Andalucía, as he sixth and ninth was on the two mountain stages. In the overall standings, he served as the 15th best in his team. In March, he was in the mountain stage of the Critérium International in seventh and secured so that rank well in the overall standings. In the Basque -day race Klasika Primavera he was until recently in the top group, revealed in the sprint but his weakness and so had to admit defeat Giovanni Visconti and Alejandro Valverde and third.
Achievements
- A stage Volta a Lleida
- A stage in the Vuelta a España
- Escalada a Montjuïc
- A stage of Tour de Romandie
- A stage in the Tour de Suisse, three days in the yellow jersey, 3rd place overall
- 2nd place Rating Euskal Bizikleta
- Subida Urkiola
- A stage in the Vuelta a Castilla y León
- A stage of Tour de Romandie
- Two stages of the Vuelta a España
- A stage of the Giro d' Italia
- A stage in the Vuelta a España
- Mountains classification Tour of Beijing