Íñigo Cuesta

Íñigo Cuesta López de Castro (born 2 June 1969) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's Continental Team .

Career Born in Villarcayo de Merindad de Castilla la Vieja, Burgos, Cuesta turned professional in 1994 for the Basque team. Here his results included a second place in 1995 Vuelta a Asturias, and in 1996 he signed a contract with Spanish team . Cuesta would have to wait until 1998 before he won his first race, the overall victory in the stage race Tour of the Basque Country. In securing the stage race win, he proved his talent as both a climber and time trialist, though not on the level of the Grand Tours.

Even though he won a second triumph, a stage in the 2000 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, he did not get his contract renewed. Instead he signed with , after his initial new employer, Linda McCartney Racing Team, went bankrupt before the season started. His four years at Cofidis did not provide Cuesta with any more wins, his biggest result a 13th place in the 2001 Vuelta a España. In 2005 he changed to , where he won stage 5 in the Volta a Catalunya, during the early part of the 2005 UCI ProTour season. Though he still had one year remaining of his contract, Cuesta changed to before the 2006 season. Here he assisted team captain Carlos Sastre in the Vuelta a España.

Cuesta continued to help Sastre in 2009, after the announcement that he changed team and joined the new . During the 2010 Vuelta a España, Cuesta started for the 17th consecutive year, a new record. To commemorate this, the race organizers gave him jersey number one, normally worn by the winner of the previous edition.

He announced his retirement in August 2011 after his team were not selected for the Vuelta a España.

Major results

1995 2nd Overall Vuelta a Asturias 8th Overall Euskal Bizikleta 1996 2nd Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León 3rd Overall Vuelta a Burgos 3rd Overall Vuelta a Mallorca 3rd Classique des Alpes 5th Subida a Urkiola 6th Overall Paris-Nice 1997 4th Overall Vuelta a Burgos 5th Overall Tour of Galicia 1998 1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country 3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón 6th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1999 10th Overall Vuelta a Murcia 2000 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

1st Stage 6 2002 7th Overall Critérium International 10th Overall Tour de Romandie 2004 1st Mountains classification Tour du Limousin 9th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2005 Volta a Catalunya 1st Mountains classification 1st Stage 5 2006 1st Stage 4 Giro d'Italia (TTT) 7th Overall Deutschland Tour 2008 5th Overall Tour de Georgia 6th Overall Vuelta a Murcia 2009 8th Overall Vuelta a Burgos