Marino Lejarreta

Marino Lejarreta Arrizabalaga (born 14 May 1957) is a retired Basque Spanish professional road racing cyclist. His biggest victory was capturing the 1982 Vuelta a España, a Grand Tour stage race, and he is the inaugural and three-time winner of the Clásica de San Sebastián (1981, 1982, 1987), which is now considered a one-day classic. In 1989, Lejarreta captured the Volta a Catalunya, repeating one of his first professional wins in 1980 at the same event.

Career Lejarreta rode very well in the 1982 Vuelta, but initially finished 2nd to Ángel Arroyo while coming in just eighteen seconds ahead of Michel Pollentier. Following the race, however, Arroyo and several other riders failed doping controls in one of the biggest scandals in Vuelta history, making the young Basque rider the de facto winner of the race. It was a bittersweet victory as he was not actually the victor riding into Madrid. For the 1983 Vuelta a España he would be up against Bernard Hinault, who had his teammates Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond, as well as other strong riders including Hennie Kuiper and the Spanish riders of Pino, Alberto Fernández and a young Pedro Delgado who was riding in his second Vuelta. The leaders Jersey changed hands numerous times, and Lejarreta held it early while also winning a mountain time trial, but suffered a crash and lost it. During the Lagos de Covadonga stage, he escaped from the group of favourites made up of Fernandez, Pino, Hinault, Kuiper and others and soloed to victory, but it was not enough to reclaim the lead. In the end, he finished just 1:12 behind Hinault to stand on the podium in 2nd.

Later in his career, he would win his only Tour de France stage in a very unusual manner. During the 1990 edition, he found himself among the group of favourites as Delgado, Breukink and LeMond were battling the surprising Claudio Chiappucci for the Yellow Jersey. During stage 14, he attacked off the front of the favourites group in an effort to chase down the final few breakaway riders and go for the stage win. When he crossed the finish line ahead of the favourites, he did not throw his arms up to celebrate because he did not think he had caught the final breakaway rider. With the available technology not giving instant times, results and standings as it does today, it was not as easy to know what was going on from within the race, and Lejarreta didn't find out until he came to a stop and was told by his team that he had won the stage.

He would win stages in all three Grand Tours and finish in the top 10 fifteen times: The Giro seven times, the Tour three times and the Vuelta five times, including three podium places and a win in 1982.

Until 2015, Lejarreta was the only person in history to complete all three Grand Tours in a single year four times in a career; he did the triple in 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1991. Adam Hansen is the only rider to complete all three Grand Tours in a season more times than Lejarreta. However, unlike Lejarreta, Hansen never contended in the general classification. In fact, during the four seasons he completed all three Grand Tours, he placed in the Top 10 in eight out of twelve of them.

His brother Ismael and his nephew Iñaki (killed in a road accident aged 29) were also professional cyclists.

Major results

1980

1st Stage 1c (ITT) 1st Stage 4 Vuelta Asturias 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country 3rd Overall Deutschland Tour 3rd Overall Étoile des Espoirs 5th Overall Vuelta a España 5th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 1981 1st Clásica de San Sebastián 1st Subida al Naranco 1st Circuito de Getxo 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country 3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya

4th Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre 8th Overall Tour du Tarn 1st Stage 3 8th Overall Deutschland Tour 10th Road race, National Road Championships 10th Tre Valli Varesine 1982

1st Stage 17

1st Prologue

1st Stage 1a 1st Clásica de San Sebastián 1st Stage 2 Vuelta a los Valles Mineros 3rd GP Navarra 5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 1983

1st Stages 1a & 1b (ITT) 1st Giro dell'Appennino 2nd Overall Vuelta a España

1st Stages 6, 8 (ITT) & 13

2nd Giro dell'Umbria 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country 3rd Coppa Sabatini 3rd Klasika Primavera 5th Giro dell'Emilia 6th Overall Giro d'Italia 6th Subida al Naranco 7th Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria 8th Tre Valli Varesine 1984 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country 3rd Subida al Naranco 4th Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 19 1985 2nd Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country 3rd Giro dell'Emilia 3rd Coppa Sabatini 3rd Giro dell'Appennino 5th Overall Giro d'Italia 6th Giro di Campania 7th GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano 8th Coppa Placci 8th Tour du Nord-Ouest 9th Overall Tour de Romandie 1986

1st Subida al Naranco 2nd Clásica de San Sebastián 2nd Subida a Arrate 2nd Klasika Primavera 5th Overall Vuelta a España 1st Stage 8 (ITT) 6th Overall Volta a Catalunya 7th Overall Vuelta a Murcia 1987

1st Prologue & Stage 4

1st Clásica de San Sebastián 1st Subida a Urkiola 3rd Grand Prix des Nations 3rd Klasika Primavera 4th Overall Giro d'Italia 7th Overall Vuelta a Murcia 9th Overall Volta a Catalunya 9th Coppa Sabatini 10th Overall Tour de France 10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1988

1st Prologue

1st Stages 1a & 1b (ITT)

1st Subida a Urkiola 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia 3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya 3rd Giro di Lombardia 3rd GP Navarra 4th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 4th Clásica de San Sebastián 1989

1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia 1st Stage 2 Vuelta a La Rioja 2nd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc 4th Milano–Torino 5th Overall Tour de France 8th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 10th Overall Giro d'Italia 1990

1st Stages 2 & 4

1st Stage 1b (ITT) 2nd Overall Volta a Catalunya

2nd Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia 3rd Trofeo Comunidad Foral de Navarra 3rd Klasika Primavera 4th Züri-Metzgete 5th Overall Tour de France 1st Stage 14 7th Overall Giro d'Italia 8th Giro di Lombardia 10th Clásica de San Sebastián 10th Wincanton Classic 1991 2nd Subida a Urkiola 3rd Overall Vuelta a España 5th Overall Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 5 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 8th La Flèche Wallonne

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish