Juan Antonio Flecha
![]() Flecha in 2012. | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni |
Born | Junín, Buenos Aires, Argentina | 17 September 1977
Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) |
Weight | 72 kg (159 lb; 11 st 5 lb) |
Team information | |
Current team | Retired |
Discipline | Road |
Role | Rider |
Rider type | Classics specialist |
Professional teams | |
2000–2001 | Relax–Fuenlabrada |
2002–2003 | iBanesto.com |
2004–2005 | Fassa Bortolo |
2006–2009 | Rabobank |
2010–2012 | Team Sky |
2013 | Vacansoleil–DCM[1] |
Major wins | |
Grand Tours
|
Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (born 17 September 1977) is an
Early life
Flecha spent his early years in Argentina. His father died in a car accident when he was four years of age. He moved to Spain with his mother when he was eleven, where they lived in Sitges, near Barcelona.[5]
Professional Cycling Career
Early years
He gained fame in 2003 when he became the first rider born in Argentina to win a Tour de France stage while riding for iBanesto.com. As he rode across the finish line he performed a unique victory salute: he pantomimed releasing an arrow from a bow in homage to his family name ("Flecha" is the Spanish word for "arrow"). Although he said in a French interview, "Je dédie ma victoire a toute mon équipe", (I dedicate my victory to my whole team), it was also reported that he said after the race: "My win here is special, and it belongs to me and nobody else!"[6]
The 2004 season saw him as a co-leader in the Italian Fassa Bortolo team for the Classics and one-day races, with notable finishes in various races from the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and victories in Züri-Metzgete and the Giro del Lazio. He often shared team leadership with Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara, with whom he said he was working very well. In Züri-Metzgete, he won a 30 rider bunch gallop in front of Italian Paolo Bettini.[7] This victory helped him achieve the fifth position of the 2004 UCI Road World Cup, a classification that was calculated over ten major one-day races.[8]
2005
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Juan_Antonio_Flecha_Tour_de_France_2005.jpg/170px-Juan_Antonio_Flecha_Tour_de_France_2005.jpg)
The following season with Fassa Bortolo in 2005 saw Flecha involved in a controversial finish at Gent–Wevelgem, where he had to settle for second. Nico Mattan of Davitamon–Lotto attacked the leading group with 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) left in the race and only Flecha and Baden Cooke (Française des Jeux) had the resources to follow. Flecha then placed an attack of his own and dropped the two men. It looked like he was on his way to success when Mattan got back to him in the last kilometer by using the slipstream produced by the race's cars, which is not allowed, and beat Flecha for the line.[9] A couple of days later, he finished on the third step of the podium in Paris–Roubaix, a confirmation of his skills in the cobbled classics. He entered the Roubaix Velodrome with Tom Boonen and George Hincapie, but his sprinting speed was not sufficient to get the win.[10] Euskaltel–Euskadi rider Egoi Martínez said in an interview that in a race "one should have a head and an attitude like the one Juan Antonio Flecha has", in tribute to his perseverance and positive attitude in racing.[11]
When the Fassa Bortolo team closed down after the 2005 season, Flecha moved on to Dutch team Rabobank. In 2007, Flecha took 2nd in the prestigious Paris–Roubaix race by winning the sprint contested between the 4 riders who were chasing the winner, Aussie Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC).
2008
In the Vuelta a España, Flecha displayed his sense of humor as he stole the "Elk Man"'s American flag and rode playfully with it for 200 meters.[12] In October, he grabbed his first victory since joining the Rabobank team in the four-stage race Circuit Franco-Belge. He was fourth at 18 seconds before heading in to the final stage,[13] which was contested in heavy rain and cold temperatures. He escaped from a group of 24 riders with Sébastien Rosseler of Quick-Step and finished in second position of the stage, putting enough time between him and the former leader Jürgen Roelandts (Silence–Lotto) to be awarded the overall classification win.[14]
2009
Flecha took the third step of the podium in the
2010
"Gilbert attacked, I got back to him and in the car they said "Go!" I didn't look back until at 100 meters [from the finish]. [...] It's really emotional for me. I've been knocking on the door many times and sometimes, like today, it just shows that you have to keep on trying and one day it will come. The victory came in a beautiful, beautiful way.
Juan Antonio Flecha after winning the 2010 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.[18]
In 2010, he joined
Flecha went on to compete in the
2011
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Juan_Antonio_Flecha_2011_Tour_de_France.jpg/170px-Juan_Antonio_Flecha_2011_Tour_de_France.jpg)
At the very short 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) prologue of the Tour of Qatar, Flecha survived a scare when a gust of wind knocked down some steel barriers as he was sprinting for the line. He managed to stay upright after skillfully negotiating the steel bars, with his back wheel slipping on the metallic surface.[26] Despite the incident, he took the fourth place of the stage,[27] and later on the fourth place of the whole Tour, 26 seconds down on Mark Renshaw (HTC–Highroad).[28] In February, Flecha looked to repeat his win of 2010 at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. In wet conditions, he broke away from a group containing some race favorites on the Paaderstraat, with about 30 km (19 mi) to go, and caught the only man in front of him, Rabobank's Sebastian Langeveld. Flecha launched an attack with 5 km (3.1 mi) to cover, but Langeveld bridged the gap. The two were set to battle it out in the sprint, with Langeveld refusing to take pulls and Flecha going so far as to roll on the sidewalk to force his opponent to do some work in the front. Langeveld finally prevailed by a few inches on the line.[29] At the Tour de France's ninth stage, Flecha was involved in a dramatic crash after he was sideswiped by a France Télévisions car, causing fellow breakaway rider, Johnny Hoogerland to crash into a barbed wire fence. He was treated on his bike for an injured elbow and finished the stage. He shared the Combativity award with Hoogerland for that stage.[30] Flecha subsequently won a criminal case brought against the car's driver in the year after the crash and was awarded 10,000 Euros.[31] On stage 16, Flecha attacked relentlessly trying to create a break during the first stages of the race, developing an average power of 297 watts over the whole race.[4]
2012
At the beginning of the year, Flecha took the third place overall at the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a2/JAF_paris_roubaix.jpg/220px-JAF_paris_roubaix.jpg)
Flecha healed in time to be able to participate to
In the Vuelta a España, Flecha rode in support of his leader, Chris Froome. In Stage 13, he broke away with six other men after the first hour of racing. The breakaway made it through and Flecha finished third, four seconds behind Steve Cummings of the BMC Racing Team squad. He won the Combativity award for his efforts.[37]
Flecha left Team Sky at the end of the year and signed a one-year contract to ride with Vacansoleil–DCM in 2013.[1] He stated that the change of teams will give him more freedom to attack and be himself rather than giving up personal ambitions as was the case with Team Sky.[38]
2013
Flecha's first significant result of the 2013 campaign came in the
Television career
Flecha is often featured as a co-host to Eurosport's Grand Tours extra programming, sometimes riding the key points of the course by bike, prior to the riders, with an integrated camera and stopping along the way to share his comments. He also interviews riders after the race.[44]
Career achievements
Major results
- 2001
- 1st Stage 4 Vuelta a Aragón
- 1st Stage 3 Euskal Bizikleta
- 2002
- 4th Klasika Primavera
- 2003
- 1st Stage 11 Tour de France
- 3rd Giro del Lazio
- 2004
- 1st Züri–Metzgete
- 1st Giro del Lazio
- 5th UCI World Cup
- 5th Overall Tour of Luxembourg
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
- 7th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
- 2005
- 1st Stage 4 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 2nd Gent–Wevelgem
- 3rd Paris–Roubaix
- 4th GP di Prato
- 9th HEW Cyclassics
- 2006
- 2nd GP Ouest–France
- 4th Paris–Roubaix
- 4th Brabantse Pijl
- 5th Overall Tour of Luxembourg
- 6th Overall Eneco Tour
- 2007
- 2nd Paris–Roubaix
- 2nd Omloop Het Volk
- 2008
- 1st Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
- 3rd Tour of Flanders
- 3rd Brabantse Pijl
- 2009
- 3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 6th Paris–Roubaix
- 6th Overall Eneco Tour
- 2010
- 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 3rd E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- 3rd Paris–Roubaix
- 8th Strade Bianche
Combativity award Stage 13 Tour de France
- 2011
- 2nd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 4th Overall Tour of Qatar
- 9th Paris–Roubaix
Combativity award Stage 9 Tour de France
- 2012
- 2nd Overall Tour de l'Eurometropole
- 3rd Overall Tour of Qatar
- 3rd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
- 4th Paris–Roubaix
- 4th Overall Ster ZLM Toer
Combativity award Stage 13 Vuelta a España
- 2013
- 5th Gent–Wevelgem
- 6th Overall Danmark Rundt
- 8th Paris–Roubaix
Combativity award Stage 12 Tour de France
Combativity award Stage 16 Vuelta a España
Monuments results timeline
Monument | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milan–San Remo | 34 | 64 | — | — | 40 | 39 | 41 | 29 | 18 | 76 | — | 72 |
Tour of Flanders | 43 | 34 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 52 | 3 | 30 | 34 | 11 | 20 | 21 |
Paris–Roubaix | — | 25 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 8 |
Liège–Bastogne–Liège | 40 | 81 | 118 | — | 85 | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Giro di Lombardia | 38 | 18 | DNF | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 |
— | Did not compete |
---|---|
DNF | Did not finish |
References
- ^ Cycling News. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Juan Antonio Flecha to retire at the end of the season after 12-year professional career". Sky Sports. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- ^ a b "Flecha still targeting Paris–Roubaix despite hand fracture". VeloNation. 13 March 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- ^ a b "Flecha super aggressive with 15+ attacks!". Training Peaks. Peaksware LLC. 19 July 2011. Archived from the original on 5 June 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- ^ William Lozito. "Cycling profile: Juan Antonio Flecha". Sport QA. Sportqa, Inc. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ "Juan Antonio Flecha – "Mine and nobody else's!"". Cyclingnews.com. July 2003. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Neal Rogers (6 April 2005). "Mattan takes a messy Ghent-Wevelgem". Velo News. 2012 Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Hernan Alvarez Macias (25 March 2005). "An interview with Juan Antonio Flecha, 25 March 2005". Cycling News. 2006–2008 Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
- ^ "Juan Antonio Flecha vole un drapeau américain". Koreus (in French). Koreus. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- Cycling News. 4 October 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
- ^ Bjorn Haake (28 February 2009). "64th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – 1.HC". CyclingNews. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ "Paris Nice Stage 3: Chavanel wins, Contador slips down to 6th place". RoadCC. Farrelly Atkinson Ltd. 10 March 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ^ Tony Farrelly (12 April 2009). "Boonen wins dramatic 2009 Paris Roubaix, but 10 hurt when motorcycle hits fans". Road.cc. Farrelly Atkinson Ltd. Retrieved 22 September 2012.
- ^ "Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010 – Interview Flecha". CyclingFever.com (video). CyclingFever. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ "Juan Antonio Flecha wins Omloop Het Nieuwsblad". Velo News. 2012 Competitor Group, Inc. 27 February 2010. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Gregor Brown (11 April 2010). "Flecha claims third in Sky's debut at Paris–Roubaix". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Sports & Leisure network. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ "Paris–Roubaix: Boonen upset with Pozzato, Flecha and Hushovd". Velo Nation. Velo Nation LLC. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ "Tour win in five years the stated objective". Team Sky. Team Sky. Retrieved 24 September 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Simon MacMichael (18 July 2010). "Tour de France Stage 13: "Clean" Vino back on form as race heads for Pyrenees". Road cc. Farrelly Atkinson Ltd. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ "Flecha near miss at the 2011 Tour of Qatar". Frequency.com. Frequency. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- ^ "2011 Tour of Qatar". Velo Wire. 2002–2012, Thomas Vergouwen. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- ^ Julien Pretot (10 July 2011). "Tour riders outraged after 'reckless driving' leads to crash". National Post. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
- ^ Brown, Gregor (5 November 2014). "Johnny Hoogerland finally receives compensation for 2011 Tour de France horror crash". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
- ^ "Tour of Qatar, final general classification results". Velo News. 2012 Competitor Group, Inc. 10 February 2012. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
- ^ James Startt (25 February 2012). "Sep Vanmarcke Takes His Biggest Win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad". Bicycling.com. Bicycling. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
- ^ "Flecha breekt hand tijdens ruzie met automobilist". Wierlerland (in Dutch). Wielersport. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ "Tom Boonen Powers to Fourth Paris–Roubaix Victory, Equals Record". AFP/Bicycling.com. Bicycling.com. 8 April 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ "2012 Ster ZLM Toer results". RoadCycling. 2009–2012 RoadCycling.co.nz Ltd. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
- Cycling News. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
- Cycling News. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
- ^ "Peter Sagan wins Gent–Wevelgem one-day classic in style". BBC Sports. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
- Competitor Group, Inc.7 April 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ Robert-Jan Friele (3 April 2013). "Juan Antonio Flecha was klant van dopingarts Fuentes". Volkskrant. VOLG Volkskrant.nl. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ Brecht Decaluwé (3 April 2013). "Vacansoleil defends Flecha against alleged links to Operación Puerto". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ "Vacansoleil confirm end to team sponsorship". Cyclingnews.com. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
- ^ Cazón, Patricia (21 March 2014). "Greg Lemond y Flecha fichan como comentaristas de Eurosport". As.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 February 2016.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Juan Antonio Flecha at Cycling Archives
- Juan Antonio Fleacha's profile on Cycling Base Archived 5 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine