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Igor Antón
	Antón at the 2008 Euskal Bizikleta.
Personal information
Full name	Igor Antón Hernández
Nickname	Fuji
Born	2 March 1983 (age 41); Galdakao, Basque Country, Spain
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	58 kg (128 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climbing specialist
Amateur team
2002–2004	Olarra-Consultec
Professional teams
2005–2013	Euskaltel–Euskadi
2014–2015	Movistar Team
2016–2018	Team Dimension Data
Major wins
	Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 1 individual stage (2011) Vuelta a España 4 individual stages (2006, 2010, 2011)

Igor Antón Hernández (born 2 March 1983) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the Euskaltel–Euskadi, Movistar Team and Team Dimension Data squads.^[3]

Career

Born in Galdakao, Basque Country, Antón's first major achievement after turning professional in 2005, was winning the sixteenth stage of the 2006 Vuelta a España, between Almería and the Calar Alto Observatory.^[4]

After impressing his team directors in 2007, where he won a stage at the Tour de Romandie, Antón was soon picked out to be the team leader for the general classification (GC) in the 2007 Vuelta a España where he ended up finishing 8th overall. The year started well, and in June he came second in the Euskal Bizikleta. Later in the same month, Antõn won the second stage in the UCI ProTour race Tour de Suisse. In the GC he came home third. In September at the Vuelta a España, Antón was in the best form of his career and held the pace of the likes of Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde up the mountains. A fall on the stage to Alto de L'Angliru ended his ambitions in the Vuelta. The fall caused a fractured collarbone, and Antón's season came to an early end.

The 2009 season started slowly for Antón. He started the Tour de France in July, but failed to make a great impression. The Tour was filled with bad luck for Antón as he had at least three falls during the start of the three-week race. However, Antón came out of the Tour in great form and took the season's only victory on 2 August, when he won the Subida a Urkiola.

In 2010, Anton proved to be a formidable rider in the Classics, taking 4th at La Flèche Wallonne and 6th at Liège–Bastogne–Liège. In the Vuelta a España, Anton won Stage 4 and Stage 11 giving him the leader's jersey. However, on Stage 14 whilst wearing the leader's jersey, Anton crashed heavily on a descent and was forced to retire.

In 2011, Anton won two grand tour stages. He won Stage 14 in the Giro d'Italia^[1] and Stage 19 in the Vuelta a España which were both summit finishes, the latter almost a 'home' stage with familiar climbs in Biscay and concluding in Bilbao.^[1]

In 2012, Anton built his whole season on the 2012 Vuelta a España. He ended up finishing 9th overall after an impressive race in the mountains.

Antón joined the Movistar Team for the 2014 season, after his previous team – Euskaltel–Euskadi – folded at the end of the 2013 season.^[5]

In May 2015, Antón renewed with victory after a four-year drought. He won the mountainous first stage of the Vuelta a Asturias with fourteen seconds of an advantage over former Euskaltel teammate Amets Txurruka of Caja Rural–Seguros RGA.^[6] He would not let go of the lead on stage two, which was the last stage of the race. He finished with the lead group of five riders.^[7]

Anton retired from racing after the last stage of the 2018 Vuelta a España.^[3] He was celebrated by the public on the streets of Madrid, when riding in front of the peloton for a while. A few months later, his career was honoured by local football club Athletic Bilbao at their stadium prior to a derby match against Eibar.^[1]

Major results

2004

3rd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships

5th Overall Ronde de l'Isard

5th Overall Volta a Lleida

1st Stage 5a

2006

1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc

1st Stage 1b (ITT)

1st Stage 16 Vuelta a España

3rd Subida a Urkiola

5th Overall Clásica Internacional de Alcobendas

2007

2nd Overall GP Internacional Paredes Rota dos Móveis

4th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León

4th Overall Escalada a Montjuïc

7th Overall Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 4

8th Overall Vuelta a España

8th Klasika Primavera

9th GP Miguel Induráin

2008

2nd Overall Euskal Bizikleta

3rd Overall Tour de Suisse

1st Stage 2

9th Clásica a los Puertos de Guadarrama

2009

1st Subida a Urkiola

2010

Vuelta a España

1st Stages 4 & 11

2nd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León

1st Stage 3

2nd Klasika Primavera

4th La Flèche Wallonne

6th Overall Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid

6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

9th Overall Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 5

9th Overall Bayern–Rundfahrt

9th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

2011

1st Stage 14 Giro d'Italia

1st Stage 19 Vuelta a España

1st

Mountains classification Tour of Beijing

3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León

5th La Flèche Wallonne

8th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

2012

3rd Klasika Primavera

7th Overall Critérium International

9th Overall Vuelta a España

9th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

2013

2nd GP Miguel Induráin

6th Vuelta a Murcia

8th La Flèche Wallonne

2014

4th Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia

2015

1st

Overall Vuelta a Asturias

1st Stage 1

3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León

2016

9th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

9th Gran Premio di Lugano

10th Giro dell'Emilia

2017

6th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

2018

4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018
Giro d'Italia	83	—	—	—	—	—	17	—	—	37	38	28	62	DNF
Tour de France	—	—	DNF	—	66	—	—	—	23	—	—	—	—	—
Vuelta a España	—	15	8	DNF	33	DNF	33	9	20	—	—	DNF	35	44