José Luis Rubiera Vigil (born 27 January 1973 in Gijón) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He last rode for the UCI ProTour team . Rubiera won his first professional race at the 1997 Giro d'Italia, winning stage 19. He won another stage in the 2000 Giro d'Italia and was part of three consecutive team time trial (TTT) stage wins in the Tour de France. Rubiera also finished in the top 10 of both the Vuelta a España and Giro d'Italia, on two occasions apiece.
Rubiera's climbing ability was instrumental in leading Lance Armstrong to five of his Tour de France victories, most famously leading Armstrong up the start of Alpe d'Huez in 2001. It was also on this stage that "The Look" incident happened between Armstrong and Jan Ullrich just prior to Armstrong's launch of his attack. In reality, Armstrong was not looking at Ullrich, but rather at Rubiera as he was checking to be sure Rubiera would be there to save him if he cracked and his attack failed.
Rubiera earned an engineering degree in 2004, while balancing his race schedule and studies. Rubiera was elected as deputy to the cyclists' representative council of the UCI ProTour.
Career achievements Major results
1997 10th Overall, Giro d'Italia 1st, Stage 19 1999 1st Overall, Volta ao Alentejo 1st, Stage 3b (ITT) 6th Overall, Vuelta a España 2000 1st, Subida al Naranco 8th Overall, Giro d'Italia 1st, Stage 13 2001 2nd Overall, Vuelta a Burgos 1st, King of the Mountains 7th Overall, Vuelta a España 2002 2nd Overall, Vuelta a Burgos 2003 1st, Stage 4 (TTT), Tour de France 2004 1st, Stage 4 (TTT), Tour de France 2nd, Châteauroux Classic 2005 1st, Stage 4 (TTT), Tour de France 3rd Overall, Volta ao Algarve 2006 3rd Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León 9th Overall, Paris–Nice 10th Overall, Volta ao Algarve 2007 1st, Stage 8, Tour of Qinghai Lake 2008 1st, Stage 2, Vuelta a Murcia 2009 10th Overall, Tour of California 2010 10th Overall, Vuelta a Castilla y León
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Giro d'Italia1013DNF8—————13391544 Tour de France————382219193591——— Vuelta a España—2661175180———8522DNF
+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish
References
External links
chechurubiera.info An Online Magazine for Fans of Chechu Rubiera