Óscar Sevilla

Óscar Sevilla

Sevilla in T-Mobile team kit
Personal information
Full name	Óscar Miguel Sevilla Ribera
Nickname	El Niño
Born	September 29, 1976 (1976-09-29) (age 35) Ossa de Montiel, Albacete Province, Spain
Team information
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Professional team(s)
1998–2003 2004 2005–2006 2007 2008–2009	Kelme Phonak T-Mobile Relax-Gam Rock Racing
Major wins
Vuelta Asturias (2006)
Infobox last updated on 16 September 2010

Óscar Miguel Sevilla Ribera (born 29 September 1976, in Ossa de Montiel, Albacete Province), nicknamed El Niño, is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He is a climber with a pedigree in stage races, having finished in the top ten of the Tour de France and Vuelta a España several times.^[1] He was provisionally suspended from riding after failing a drug test but is now racing again with a recent high placing in the Tour of Utah (Aug 2011) suggesting his climbing form is undiminished.^[2]

Biography

He turned professional in 1998 for Spanish team Kelme, and his big breakthrough came in the 2001 edition of the Tour de France. Here, he showed himself as a great climber, ranking 7th in the overall General Classification, and winning the maillot blanc as the best rider of 25 years of age or younger. After the Tour de France, he continued his great form in the 2001 Vuelta a España. He wore the leader's jersey until the final uphill time trial stage in Madrid, which he lost to winner Ángel Casero.

In the 2002 Vuelta a España, intra-team rivalry with Aitor González saw him finish fourth in the General Classification, despite the team's initial assurances that he would be the only leader. González's racing in the very difficult Angliru mountain stage saw Sevilla lose valuable time that he was not able to recover in the later stages of the race, and Gonzalez took over the lead on the final stage, overtaking previous leader Roberto Heras.

After a lacklustre 2003 season, Sevilla was injured in the 2003 World Cycling Championship in a crash, resulting in a serious back injury. The 2004 season saw Sevilla start with the Swiss team Phonak in support of Tyler Hamilton's bid for the 2004 Tour de France. As Hamilton sustained an injury, Sevilla assumed the leader's mantle, although without good results. He then switched to T-Mobile Team for the 2005 season.

Since then he has fought to achieve the same great results, but his 2005 season on German team T-Mobile Team initially saw him ride as a domestique for Jan Ullrich in the 2005 Tour de France. Here, he helped Ullrich finish 3rd overall, and Sevilla's climbing improved, as well as his morale. He rode the 2005 Vuelta a España as team captain and ranked 7th overall.

He was linked to Operación Puerto doping case. After he was initially named in the investigation, Sevilla was still able to ride and won the Vuelta Asturias. On the day before the Tour de France, Ullrich and Sevilla were explicitly linked to the investigation and not allowed to start the 2006 Tour de France. On 20 July 2006, Oscar Sevilla was fired from T-Mobile in relation to the aforementioned accusations.

He rode for Relax-GAM for the 2007 season and Rock Racing for the 2008 season. He rode for Gobernación de Antioquía in the 2011 Tour of Utah.

Honors

1999

Stage 4, Tour de Romandie

2000

Trofeo Luis Ocana

Memorial Manuel Galera

2001

Winner Maillot blanc and 7th overall, 2001 Tour de France

2nd overall, Vuelta a España

2002

4th overall, Vuelta a España

2003

12th overall, Vuelta a España

2004

3rd overall, Dauphiné Libéré

24th overall, Tour de France

2005

18th overall, Tour de France

7th overall, Vuelta a España

2006

1st, overall and 1 stage Vuelta Asturias

2007

1st overall and 1 stage Route du Sud

2008

1st stage 9 Vuelta a Colombia

1st, Reading Classic

1st overall Clásico RCN

2009

1st stage 2 Vuelta Asturias

2nd stage 1 Tour of Utah

1st overall Cascade Cycling Classic

2010

1st overall 2010 Vuelta Mexico Telmex

1st overall Vuelta Antioquia

2nd overall Vuelta a Colombia

1st stage 1 Team Time Trial

1st stage 14 Time Trial

2011

1st Stage 8 Vuelta a Colombia

1st Stage 9 Vuelta a Colombia

4th Overall Tour of Utah

References

1. ^ Cyclingnews interview, December 2005
2. ^ Sevilla tests positive for blood expander

External links

• Official website
• Profile at Trap-Friis (source of wins)

Persondata
Name	Sevilla, Óscar
Alternative names	Sevilla Ribera, Óscar Miguel
Short description	Road racing cyclist
Date of birth	1976-09-29
Place of birth	Ossa de Montiel, Albacete Province, Spain
Date of death
Place of death