Alberto Fernández

Alberto Fernández Blanco (15 January 1955 – 14 December 1984) was a Spanish road racing cyclist. His son Alberto Fernández Sainz is also a road racing cyclist.

Fernández was born in Cuena, Cantabria. As an amateur, he won the Spanish mountain bike championships, and turned professional in 1978. During his career, he was nicknamed el Galleta ("the Biscuit"), because the town where he lived, Aguilar de Campoo, had several biscuit factories.

Fernández tested positive for the stimulant Methylphenidate (Ritalin) on stage 17 of the 1982 Vuelta a España.

His best results came during the last two years of his career. He finished 10th overall in the 1982 Tour de France, and 3rd in his first appearance in the 1983 Giro d'Italia. He also finished 3rd in the 1983 Vuelta a España, improving to 2nd in 1984, only 6 seconds behind winner Éric Caritoux (the smallest winning margin in any of the Grand Tours).

He and his wife died in a car accident in December 1984, just short of his 30th birthday.

Major results

1975 1st Subida a Gorla 1976 7th Overall Tour de l'Avenir 1978 2nd Overall Vuelta a los Valles Mineros 4th Overall Vuelta a Cantabria 5th Subida a Arrate 7th Overall Vuelta a Asturias 8th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1979 1st Overall Vuelta a Asturias 3rd Clásica de Sabiñánigo 5th Overall Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana 9th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1980 1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1st Stage 5b (ITT) 1st Overall Vuelta a los Valles Mineros 1st Stage 3a 1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Cantabria 1st Stage 4 Costa del Azahar 6th Overall Deutschland Tour 8th Overall Volta a Catalunya 1981 1st Overall Vuelta a los Valles Mineros 1st Stage 3a 1st Overall Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana 1st Stage 4b (ITT) 2nd Overall Vuelta a La Rioja 3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1st Stage 2b (ITT) 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc 6th Overall Volta a Catalunya 6th Clásica de San Sebastián 6th Subida al Naranco 10th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 1982

1st Stage 7a 1st Stages 3 & 4b Vuelta a Burgos 1st Stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country 1st Stage 3 (ITT) Tour Méditerranéen 3rd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 8th Overall Paris–Nice 10th Overall Tour de France 1983 1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1st Stage 2 1st Memorial Gastone Nencini 1st Subida a Arrate 3rd Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stages 6 & 17 3rd Overall Vuelta a España 1st Stage 5 5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 5th Subida al Naranco 8th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1984 1st Trofeo Masferrer 2nd Overall Vuelta a España 2nd Overall Vuelta Asturias 1st Stages 3 & 4 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 5th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish