Mikel Nieve

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Nieve and the second or maternal family name is Iturralde.
Mikel Nieve
Nieve at the 2018 Tour de France.
Personal information
Full nameMikel Nieve Iturralde
NicknameFrosty
Born (1984-05-26) 26 May 1984 (age 40)
Leitza, Spain
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight62 kg (137 lb; 9 st 11 lb)[1]
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClimber
Amateur teams
2003Café Baqué–Labarca 2 amateur
2004–2007Caja Rural amateur
Professional teams
2008Orbea–Oreka SDA
2009–2013Euskaltel–Euskadi
2014–2017Team Sky[2]
2018–2021Mitchelton–Scott[3][4][5]
2022Caja Rural–Seguros RGA[6][7]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Giro d'Italia
Mountains classification (2016)
3 individual stages (2011, 2016, 2018)
Vuelta a España
1 individual stage (2010)

Mikel Nieve Iturralde (born 26 May 1984) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional from 2008 to 2022.

Career

Euskaltel–Euskadi (2009–2013)

Nieve at the 2013 Tour de France

Born in Leitza, 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.[8] 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.[9] 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 final 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.[10]

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

In 2013,[11] 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 an initial two-year deal.[2]

Team Sky (2014–2017)

In 2014, he won stage 8, the final stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné 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.[12] Nieve also rode the Tour de France, where he helped Chris Froome take overall victory as one of his mountain domestiques.

Mitchelton–Scott (2018–2021)

In August 2017, it was announced that Nieve would join Mitchelton–Scott for the 2018 season.[13] During the 2018 Giro d'Italia, Nieve won the penultimate stage of the race, having been a part of the 27-rider breakaway on his 34th birthday.[14] He finished 10th overall in the 2019 Vuelta a España, finishing in the top 10 of the race for the fourth time in his career, having entered the race as a domestique for teammate Esteban Chaves.[15] At the 2020 Tour de France, he abandoned a Grand Tour for the first time in 19 attempts, having finished each of the previous 18 in the top-25 placings overall.[16] He then rode the 2020 Vuelta a España, and finished 13th overall.

Caja Rural–Seguros RGA

In December 2021, Nieve announced that he was joining the Caja Rural–Seguros RGA team for the 2022 season, after thirteen years at UCI World Tour level.[17]

Major results

Nieve at the 2017 Paris–Nice
2007
9th Overall Vuelta a Navarra
2008
3rd Overall Cinturó de l'Empordà
2009
7th Overall Vuelta a Mallorca
7th Trofeo Inca
2010
4th Trofeo Inca
7th Giro di Lombardia
10th Overall Vuelta a España
1st Stage 16
2011
8th Gran Premio de 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
2017
8th Giro di Lombardia
9th Overall Tour de Suisse
2018
1st Stage 20 Giro d'Italia
2019
4th GP Miguel Induráin
8th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
10th Overall Vuelta a España
2020
9th Overall Tour de Pologne
10th Overall Vuelta a Burgos
2022
10th Overall Troféu Joaquim Agostinho

General classification results timeline

Grand Tour general classification results
Grand Tour 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia — — 10 10 — — 17 25 — 17 17 — 25 —
A yellow jersey Tour de France — — — — 12 18 — 17 14 23 — DNF — —
A red jersey Vuelta a España — 10 10 — 23 12 8 — 16 — 10 13 31 —
Major stage race general classification results
Race 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Paris–Nice — DNF — — 85 — — 28 25 — 56 — — —
Tirreno–Adriatico — — — — — 10 17 — — — — — — —
Volta a Catalunya — — 26 DNF 13 DNF — 12 53 — — NH — DNF
Tour of the Basque Country DNF — — — — 24 45 — 29 — 8 49 DNF
Tour de Romandie — 41 — — — 52 — DNF — 16 — — —
Critérium du Dauphiné 42 — — — 17 8 — — — — — — — —
Tour de Suisse — — — 5 — — — — 9 — — NH — —

References

  1. ^ a b "Mikel Nieve". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b Brown, Gregor (1 October 2013). "Sky rescues Nieve while other Euskaltel riders search for jobs". VeloNews. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
  3. ^ "Mitchelton-Scott finalise 25-rider roster for 2019". Cyclingnews.com. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Wins from January to October: Mitchelton-Scott men confirm roster and goals for 2020". Mitchelton–Scott. New Global Cycling Services. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. ^ "GreenEDGE Cycling". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  6. ^ Fletcher, Patrick (1 December 2021). "Mikel Nieve returns to his Spanish roots at Caja Rural". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  7. ^ "CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA". UCI. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "Ha sido la etapa más dura de mi vida". El País. May 22, 2011. Retrieved May 23, 2011.
  10. ^ Pelkey, Charles (22 May 2011). "As Mikel Nieve wins stage at Giro d'Italia, Alberto Contador just keeps adding to his lead". Velo News. Competitor Group, Inc. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  11. ^ "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 Sánchez, Igor Anton, Ion Izagirre, Mikel Landa, Gorka Izagirre, Pello Bilbao, Mikel Astarloza and Mikel Nieve.
  12. ^ "Nieve saves Team Sky's Giro d'Italia with mountains classification victory – Cyclingnews.com".
  13. ^ "Mikel Nieve leaves Team Sky for Orica–Scott". Cyclingnews.com. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  14. ^ Ostanek, Daniel (26 May 2018). "Giro d'Italia: Chris Froome secures overall victory at Cervinia". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  15. ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (3 August 2019). "Nieve confident of teammate Chaves' chances for Vuelta a España". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  16. ^ Bennett, Tom (16 September 2020). "Mikel Nieve abandons Tour de France, fails to finish Grand Tour for first time in 19 attempts". Eurosport. Discovery, Inc. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  17. ^ Bonville-Ginn, Tim (1 December 2021). "Mikel Nieve drops out of WorldTour to return to former team Caja Rural in 2022". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
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