Mikel Astarloza

Tour Down Under 2003

Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau ( born November 17, 1979 in San Sebastián, Spain) is a Basque cyclist.

Career

In 2002 he became a professional in the French team AG2R Prévoyance, which now belongs to the UCI Pro Tour. In 2003 he won the Tour Down Under. A stir he made in the 2005 Tour de France when he sat down to what was then a second-rate team belonging through skillful breakaways and good performance in the Pyrenees and Alps in the spotlight. He was at the end of 27 overall.

Since 2007, he runs for the Basque team Euskaltel -Euskadi. In that year he achieved excellent rankings with 7th place overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and the 9th place in the overall standings of the Tour de France, where he was able to finish both long individual time trial in the Top 10. In the 2009 Tour de France he won a tough mountain stage itself. It was the first stage win for his team Euskaltel -Euskadi after six years as Iban Mayo had won a stage.

End of the 2013 season he will end his career as a professional cyclist.

Positive doping test

On 31 July 2009 it was announced that Astarloza at a training inspection on 26 June 2009 - before the start of the Tour de France - tested positive for blood doping agent EPO. He has been banned by the Spanish cycling federation RFEC for doping until 26 June 2011.

Achievements

• General Classification Tour Down Under