Mikel Astarloza


Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau is a Basque former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2009, and 2011 to 2013.

Career

In 2003 he won his first race, when he finished just in front of Lennie Kristensen in the overall rankings of the Tour Down Under. He has taken part in all editions of the Tour de France since 2003, and won stage 16 of the 2009 Tour to record his second professional stage win in any competition, with his 9th position overall in 2007 as his next best attempt. His cousin Íñigo Chaurreau is also a professional cyclist.
On 26 June 2009 he tested positive on Recombinant Erythropoietin, for which he was suspended by the UCI on 31 July 2009. Astarloza denied using EPO, saying that it was "sporting suicide" to use illegal performance-enhancing drugs. On 15 May 2010, he was formally handed a two-year ban by the Spanish Cycling Federation. Astarloza continually claimed his innocence, and Euskaltel-Euskadi stated that they would rehire him once the ban ended. He indeed rejoined the Basque team in August 2011, at the Vuelta a Burgos.
Astarloza was selected to ride the 2012 Tour de France, but crashed on a big pile-up in stage 6 with remaining with a fractured right elbow and did not finish the stage.
On 1 October 2013 Astarloza announced that he would retire from professional cycling after the 2013 Tour of Beijing.

Career achievements

Major results

;2003
;2005
;2007
;2008
;2009

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour2002200320042005200620072008200920122013
Giro d'Italia——————————
Tour de France—2962273591611DNF42
Vuelta a España77—DNF—56—28—48—

—Did not compete
DNFDid not finish