Óscar Pereiro
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Oscar Pereiro Sio (born August 3, 1977 in Mos, Galicia) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. In 2006, he is riding for the Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears cycling team. He is a previous member of the Portuguese team Porta da Ravessa (2000 to 2001) and Swiss team Phonak Hearing Systems (2002 to 2005).
Pereiro placed 10th in the 2004 Tour de France, 22 minutes 54 seconds behind Tour winner Lance Armstrong.
Pereiro was awarded the Most Aggressive Rider Award in the 2005 Tour de France after powering the winning breakaways in Stages 15, 16 and 18. He was the Stage 16 winner - just edging out Spain's Xabier Zandio, Italy's Eddy Mazzoleni and Australia's Cadel Evans. His efforts on Stage 15, the toughest stage of the Tour, were highly admired by the peloton. He finished second that day to Discovery Channel's George Hincapie after "pulling" for most of the final climb up the Pla D'Adet.
Pereiro was considered a leader on Phonak (along with Floyd Landis and Santiago Botero) in 2005 - his last year riding for the team. In 2006, Pereiro moved to his current team, Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears.
Pereiro rode a Pinarello Dogma FP bike throughout the 2006 Tour de France. His breakaway Stage 13 second-place finish (just behind Germany's Jens Voigt) gained him almost 30 minutes on most of the General Classification leaders and propelled him into a very unexpected yellow jersey. He traded the overall Tour lead back and forth with Floyd Landis over the next few days before finally losing it to him for good on the second last day of the Tour.
Although Pereiro officially stands as the second place finisher in the 2006 Tour, it is likely that he will eventually be upgraded to the winner's position. A urine sample taken from Tour winner Floyd Landis immediately after his Stage 17 win has twice tested positive for banned synthetic testosterone as well as a ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone nearly three times the limit allowed by World Anti-Doping Agency rules.[1]
After hearing of the positive "A" test, Pereiro stated that it was only an initial, unconfirmed result and he would not yet consider Landis guilty or himself the Tour winner. "I have too much respect for Landis to do otherwise", he said.[2] After hearing that the Landis "B" test also came back positive, Pereiro stated that he now considers himself Tour champion and the Landis scandal should not diminish his own achievement. "Right now I feel like the winner of the Tour de France", Pereiro said. "It's a victory for the whole team."[3]
Tour de France finishes
(2006 results are subject to change pending final resolution of doping allegations surrounding Floyd Landis.)
- 2004: 10th (+22' 54")
- 2005: 10th (+16' 04") 1st Stage 16
- 2006: 1st (+00' 57") Holder of the Maillot jaune for 5 non-consecutive days.
Victories
- 2006
- Maillot jaune, General Classification leader (After Stages 13, 14) – Tour de France
- Maillot jaune, General Classification leader (After Stages 16 to 18) – Tour de France
- 2005
- Combativity Competition – Tour de France
- Stage 16 – Tour de France (PT) - 180.5 km
- Prologue – Tour de Romandie (PT) - 3.4 km (ITT)
- 2004
- Classique des Alpes (1.1) - 165 km
- 2003
- Stage 6 – Tour de Suisse (2.HC) - 135 km
- 2002
- Stage 5 – Setmana Catalana (2.1) - 144 km
- 2001
- Stage 3 – Grande Premio R.L.V.T. (2.5) - 166.1 km
Physical statistics
- Height : 1.77m (5' 10")
- Weight : 64kg (141 lb)
References
- ^ "Backup Sample on Landis Is Positive". New York Times. 2006-08-05.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Pereiro cautious about Landis case". SportsIllustrated.com. 2006-07-27.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "I am the Tour champion - Pereiro". BBC Sport. 2006-08-05.
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External links
