Roberto Heras

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Roberto Heras

Heras in 2005
Personal information
Full name	Roberto Heras Hernández
Nickname	King of the Spanish Mountains
Date of birth	February 1, 1974 (1974-02-01) (age 35)
Country	Spain
Height	1.72 m (5ft, 7.7in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lbs)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)1
1997–2000 2001–2003 2004–2005	Kelme-Costa Blanca US Postal Service Liberty Seguros-Würth
Major wins
Vuelta a España (2000, 2003, 2004), 10 stages Tour de France, 1 stage (TTT) Giro d'Italia, 1 stage
Infobox last updated on:
December 31, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Roberto Heras Hernández (born 1 February 1974 in Béjar, Spain) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) a record-tying three times. He broke the record with a fourth win in 2005, but was disqualified for taking EPO.

Early career

Heras turned professional in 1995 for the Spanish cycling team Kelme. His first win as a pro came in 1996 in the Subida al Naranco. Later that year he won the 12th stage of the Vuelta a España. Next year he won another stage at the Vuelta and the Clásica de Amorebieta. In 1999 he won stages at the Volta a Catalunya and the Giro d'Italia, and he stood for the first time on the Vuelta's podium, third despite not winning a stage. In 2000 he took two stages and the overall win, which attracted the US Postal cycling team.

Riding with Lance Armstrong

From 2001, he raced alongside Lance Armstrong on the US Postal Service team. As a climbing specialist, he assisted Armstrong in the mountain stages of the Tour de France. Heras achieved his highest position in the 2000 Tour when he was fifth.

Dominating the Vuelta a España

He had, however, already established himself as a contender for honours in other Tours. He was fifth and a stage winner in the 1997 Vuelta, sixth (and another stage victory) a year later, and third in 1999; that year he finished sixth and won a stage in the Giro d'Italia. His first Vuelta win came the following year, 2000 (when he also won two stages and the points classification). This was in 2003 followed by another victory in the Vuelta a España

At the end of 2003, he left US Postal to lead of the Spanish Liberty Seguros team. He was thought a contender for the 2004 Tour de France but abandoned after the 16th stage due to lack of fitness^[1]. Heras entered the Vuelta a España and won, equalling Tony Rominger's record three wins. During the first mountain stages, it seemed an easy win but in the last week he had a challenge from Santiago Pérez.

In the 2005 Vuelta a España Heras won two mountain stages (including the Estación de Esquí de Pajares) and lost the last time trial by less than a second, something nobody expected from the non-time-trial-specialist Heras. Heras won for the fourth time, a record.

However, a drug test in November 2005, two months after the race, showed a positive test for EPO from the day of time trial (stage 20)^[2]. Heras was fired and faced a two-year suspension. His Vuelta win was given to second place finisher, Russian Denis Menchov. Heras appealed, alleging inaccuracies in the testing and mishandling of his samples, he was rejected.

Accomplishments

All results are general classification (overall) rankings unless otherwise indicated:

October fifth 2009, he became the first World Champion Folding Bike in Blenheim, Great-Britain.

See also

• List of doping cases in cycling
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References