Juan José Cobo
![]() Cobo at the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné | |
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Juan José Cobo Acebo |
Nickname | El Bisonte de La Pesa |
Born | Torrelavega, Cantabria, Spain | 21 February 1981
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
Weight | 69 kg (152 lb) |
Team information | |
Discipline | Road |
Role | Rider |
Rider type | Climber/Time-Trialist |
Amateur teams | |
2002 | Saunier Duval |
2003 | Vini Caldirola-So.Di (stagiaire) |
Professional teams | |
2004–2009 | Saunier Duval–Prodir |
2010 | Caisse d'Epargne |
2011 | Geox–TMC |
2012–2013 | Movistar Team[1] |
2014 | Torku Şekerspor |
Major wins | |
Grand Tours
|
Juan José Cobo Acebo (born 21 February 1981 in Torrelavega, Cantabria) is a retired Spanish professional road racing cyclist.[2] He won the 2011 Vuelta a España as a Geox–TMC rider, his first and only major title but in July 2019 he was stripped of this title after being found guilty of doping by the UCI.[3] He was considered a climber who also is able to time trial.
On 13 June 2019, the UCI stated that Cobo had been found guilty of a doping violation, based on his biological passport data.[4]
Biography
[edit]In 2003, Cobo won the Spanish under-23 time-trial championships. He was selected for the national team in the European Championships, in Athens in August, and for the World Championships in Hamilton, Canada, in October. At the European Championships, he finished fourth, 30 seconds behind the winner Markus Fothen. At the World Championships, he participated, with Isidro Nozal, in the time-trial in which he took the 33rd place. In September, he joined the professional team Vini Caldirola as a trainee.
In 2004, Cobo became professional in the new Spanish team Saunier Duval–Prodir, led by Mauro Gianetti, manager of Vini Caldirola in 2003 . His best result this season was ninth place in the Japan Cup.
In 2005, he participated in his first grand tour, the Giro d'Italia.
In 2007, he won the Tour of the Basque Country, taking two stage victories in the process. He grabbed the leader's jersey on the first stage, which he won, and had to relinquish it to Relax–GAM's Ángel Vicioso on Stage 3. Another victory on stage 5 netted him the overall lead once again and he did resist the time trial on stage 6 to take the Tour's honors.[5] Cobo then participated in the Tour de France with hopes for a stage victory. That did not materialize, but he finished the Tour in 20th position.
In 2008, still with Saunier Duval, he made a quieter start to the season but finished second in the Tour de France Hautacam stage, behind his teammate Leonardo Piepoli. Despite this strong performance, in what was the first major mountain stage of the Tour de France, Cobo was forced to leave the Tour with his team following the positive control of the Italian Riccardo Riccò. He later was attributed the stage win since Piepoli has been stripped of it for doping.[6] Saunier Duval became Scott-American Beef late in the season, but this team was not invited to the Vuelta a España.
The team became Fuji-Servetto at the beginning of the 2009 season. Cobo stayed faithful, which allowed him to assume responsibility as a team leader, finishing 10th at the Vuelta a España where he also won a stage. He did not participate in the Tour de France as his team was not invited by the organizers. He represented Spain in the 2009 UCI Road World Championships – Men's time trial in Mendrisio.
In 2011, his team Geox–TMC started the Vuelta a España with a wildcard invitation. Cobo was selected to ride the race as a helper for team leader Denis Menchov. After winning the 15th stage on the steep ascent of the Angliru he became the leader of both the race and his team. Cobo kept the lead for the rest of the race resisting attacks by Chris Froome who finished second by just 13 seconds. Especially fierce was the attack Froome produced in the last kilometer of the seventeenth stage, Cobo was dropped for some time before he rallied and made the juncture very shortly before the finish line.[7][8][9]
After Geox–TMC folded at the end of 2011, Cobo joined Movistar Team for the 2012 season.[1] He had a year without victories, participating in the Tour de France and landing a 30th general classification placing. He was slated to be his team's leader at the Vuelta a España to defend his title, but the leadership was soon shifted to Alejandro Valverde, after the latter performed better than Cobo in the early stages.[10] Cobo helped Valverde finish in second position, while he finished 67th.[11]
Cobo left the Movistar Team at the end of the 2013 season, and joined Torku Şekerspor for the 2014 season.[2] He retired after that season.
On 18 June 2019, due to findings from his biological passport, which indicated use of performance-enhancing drugs, Cobo was stripped of his Vuelta victory as well as all other results between 29 August 2009 and 27 September 2009 as well as between 20 August 2011 and 11 September 2011, meaning he also lost his 10th place at the 2009 Vuelta.[12] As Cobo did not appeal within 30 days, he was also stripped of his 2011 Vuelta win on 18 July 2019.[13]
Career achievements
[edit]Major results
[edit]- 2003
- 1st
Time trial, National Under–23 Road Championships
- 1st Stage 5b (ITT) Vuelta a Navarra
- 2004
- 9th Japan Cup
- 2005
- 10th Coppa Placci
- 2007
- 1st
Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stages 1 & 5
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 3rd Subida a Urkiola
- 5th Gran Premio Miguel Indurain
- 9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 2008
- 1st Stage 10 Tour de France
- 2nd Subida a Urkiola
- 4th Overall Volta a Portugal
- 1st Stage 9
- 6th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 5
- 2009
- 9th Giro di Lombardia
10th Overall Vuelta a España1st Stage 19
- 10th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Stage 4
- 2011
1stOverall Vuelta a España
1stCombination classification
1st Stage 15
- 3rd Trofeo Deià
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 8th Trofeo Inca
- 9th Memorial Marco Pantani
- 2014
- 6th Overall Tour of Turkey
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
[edit]Grand Tour | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 116 |
![]() |
— | — | 20 | DNF | — | — | — | 30 | — |
![]() |
— | DNF | — | — | — | 67 | — |
— | Did not compete |
---|---|
DNF | Did not finish |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Cobo joins Valverde at Movistar". Yahoo! Eurosport. TF1 Group. Reuters. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Former Vuelta winner Cobo moves to Torku team: "Given the circumstances, I am very satisfied to keep racing"". VeloNation. VeloNation LLC. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
- ^ Cyclingnews (15 September 2019). "Vuelta a España: Roglic clinches overall victory". cyclingnews.com.
- ^ "UCI statement on Juan José Cobo Acebo, Jun 13, 2019, 16:18 PM".
- ^ "Spain's Cobo wins Tour of Basque Country". IOL Sports. Independent Online. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ Andrew Hood (6 September 2011). "Wiggins gives Cobo benefit of doubt". Velo News. 2012 Competitor Group, Inc. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ "Britain's Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins on Vuelta a España podium". Guardian. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Cobo secures maiden Vuelta crown". ABC News. 11 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ "Cobo celebrates his Vuelta win in Madrid". Cycling News. 12 September 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2011.
- ^ Will Protheroe (20 August 2012). "2012 Vuelta a España: Alejandro Valverde Wins Stage 3, Takes Overall Lead". Bleach Report. 2012 Bleacher Report, Inc. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- ^ "Vuelta a España 2012 Overall standings". Cycling Central. SBS 2012. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
- ^ Long, Jonny (18 June 2019). "Juan José Cobo has been stripped of his 2011 Vuelta a España title after being found guilty of doping". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ "Chris Froome awarded 2011 Vuelta a Espana as Juan Jose Cobo stripped of title". 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
External links
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Juan José Cobo at Cycling Archives
- Cycling News Profile
- Cycling Base Profile Archived 15 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine