Mikel Nieve

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Nieve and the second or maternal family name is Iturralde.
Mikel Nieve

Nieve at the 2010 Four Days of Dunkirk.
Personal information
Full name Mikel Nieve Iturralde
Nickname Frosty
Born (1984-05-26) 26 May 1984
Leitza, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 67 kg (148 lb; 10.6 st)
Team information
Current team Team Sky
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type Climber
Professional team(s)
2008 Orbea-Oreka SDA
2009–2013 Euskaltel–Euskadi
2014– Team Sky
Major wins

Grand Tours

Giro d'Italia
Mountains classification (2016)
2 individual stages (2011, 2016)
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2010)
Infobox last updated on
29 May 2016

Mikel Nieve Iturralde (born 26 May 1984 in Leitza) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team Team Sky.[1]

Career

Euskatel-Euskadi (2009-2013)

Nieve at the 2013 Tour de France

Nieve won the sixteenth stage of the 2010 Vuelta a España, shaking off four riders to win solo in the mountain finish at the Alto de Cotobello.[2] He earned another prestigious victory in the fifteenth stage of the 2011 Giro d'Italia, the queen stage of that year's edition, which Alberto Contador later described as the most difficult stage of his life.[3] Nieve had broken away early, and crested the penultimate climb of the day, the Passo Fedaia, with only Stefano Garzelli in front of him. On the lower slope of the ultimate climb to Gardeccia-Val di Fassa, Nieve passed Garzelli, and held on to win the stage after having spent a little less than 7 hours and a half in the saddle.[4]

He finished 10th twice in the Giro d'Italia in 2011 and 2012. He also finished 10th twice in the Vuelta a Espana in 2010 and 2011.

In 2013,[5] Nieve rode his first Tour de France, where he finished 3rd on Mont Ventoux and 9th on Alpe d'Huez. He ended up finishing 12th overall. After the disbanding of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team was confirmed at the end of the 2013 season, Nieve agreed to join Team Sky on a two-year deal.[1]

Team Sky (2014-)

Nieve at the 2016 Paris-Nice

In 2014, he won stage 8, the final stage of the Criterium du Dauphine as well as finishing 8th overall.

In 2015, Nieve finished 8th overall in the Vuelta a España, his highest Grand Tour finish to date.

In 2016, Nieve won Stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia. He also went on to win the Mountains Classification.[6] Nieve also rode the Tour de France, where he helped Chris Froome take overall victory as one of his mountain domestiques.

Career achievements

Major results

2008
3rd Overall Cinturó de l'Empordà
2009
7th Trofeo Inca
7th Overall Vuelta a Mallorca
2010
4th Trofeo Inca
7th Giro di Lombardia
10th Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stage 16
2011
8th Gran Premio Llodio
10th Overall Giro d'Italia
1st Stage 15
10th Overall Vuelta a España
10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
2012
5th Overall Tour de Suisse
10th Overall Giro d'Italia
2013
4th Clásica de San Sebastián
2014
4th Clásica de San Sebastián
8th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné
1st Stage 8
10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
Combativity award Stage 18 Tour de France
2015
2nd Overall Tour of Slovenia
4th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
6th Giro di Lombardia
8th Overall Vuelta a España
10th Overall Tour de Pologne
2016
Giro d'Italia
1st Mountains classification
1st Stage 13
10th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía

Grand Tour General Classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Pink jersey Giro 10 10 17 25
Yellow jersey Tour 12 18 17
red jersey Vuelta 10 10 23 12 8

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, Gregor (1 October 2013). "Sky rescues Nieve while other Euskaltel riders search for jobs". VeloNews. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  2. "Vuelta a España 2010: Mikel Nieve wins stage 16 while Joaquín Rodríguez takes overall lead". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited 2012. 13 September 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  3. "Ha sido la etapa más dura de mi vida". El Pais. May 22, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  4. Charles Pelkey (22 May 2011). "As Mikel Nieve wins stage at Giro d'Italia, Alberto Contador just keeps adding to his lead". Velo News. 2012 Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  5. "Basque Country's Euskaltel present UCI World Tour team". EITB. EiTB Group. 23 October 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2013. The Basque backbone remains with Samuel Sanchez, Igor Anton, Ion Izagirre, Mikel Landa, Gorka Izagirre, Pello Bilbao, Mikel Astarloza and Mikel Nieve.
  6. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nieve-saves-team-skys-giro-ditalia-with-mountains-classification-victory/
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