Abraham Olano

**Abraham Olano**
Personal information
Full name	Abraham Olano Manzano
Date of birth	January 22, 1970 (age 40)
Country	Spain
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Time-trialist
Amateur team(s)1
	Kauku, AVSA
Professional team(s)1
1992; 1992; 1993; 1994–1997; 1997–1998; 1999–2001	CHCS; Lotus; CLAS Cajastur; Mapei; Banesto; ONCE
Major wins
	Time Trial World Champion (1998); Road Race World Champion (1995); Spanish National Road Race Champion (1994); Spanish National Time Trial Champion (1994, 1998); Vuelta a España (1998) and 5 stages; Tour de France, 1 stage
Medal record
Competitor for Spain
Road bicycle racing
Olympic Games
World Championships
	Infobox last updated on:
	20 February 2009 1 Team names given are those prevailing; at time of rider beginning association with that team.

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Abraham Olano Manzano (born on January 22, 1970 in Anoeta),Gipuzkoa is a Spanish Basque former professional road racing cyclist. His crowning achievement came in 1995 when he became World Road Champion. In 1998 he won the World Time Trial Championship.

[edit] Amateur career

Olano started racing 11 years old at the Oria Cycling school, and already at junior level he won several races.^[1] Later, Olano went to track racing. He became Spanish Champion in persecution (together with Etxegoyen, Pérez and Juárez), in the 1 km with standing start and in sprint.^[1] In road racing, he started as an amateur for Kauku and AVSA. He was specialized in sprinting.

[edit] Professional career

In 1992, Olano started his professional career at CHCS. This team shortly after disbanded, and he moved to Lotus. With Lotus, Olano won his first professional race, the Gran Premio de Villafranca de Ordizia in Gipuzkoa.^[1]

In 1993, Olano switched to CLAS Cajastur, which was later merged with Mapei. Here, he started to win important races, such as the Vuelta a Asturias and the Spanish National Road Race Championships, both in road race and time trial. In 1995, Olano won the World Cycling Championship in Colombia, ahead of his compatriot Miguel Indurain. He also won three stages in the 1995 Vuelta a España.^[1]

Olano was seen by many supporters as the successor to five-times Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain. In 1996, Olano established his abilities in stage races, as he won the Tour de Romandie and finished third in the 1996 Giro d'Italia (leading the race at the second to last day) and finishing ninth in the 1996 Tour de France. In the 1996 Olympic Games, he won the silver medal in the time trial.^[1] In 1997, Olano finished fourth in the 1997 Tour de France. In 1998, he again became world champion, this time in the time trial. He won his only grand tour, the 1998 Vuelta a España.^[1]

In 1999, Olano switched to the Spanish ONCE team. He remained there until the end of his career in 2001. His biggest achievement in those years was the 2nd place in the 2001 Giro d'Italia.^[1]

[edit] After his cycling career

Olano is one of the people responsible for designing stages for the Vuelta a España.^[1] In November 2006 he ran the San Sebastian marathon in a time of 2:39:19.