Haimar Zubeldia

Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (born 1 April 1977) is a Spanish former road racing cyclist from the Basque Country, who competed professionally between 1998 and 2017 for the Euskaltel–Euskadi, Astana, Team RadioShack and Trek–Segafredo teams. During his career, Zubeldia recorded five top-ten finishes in the Tour de France, and one in the Vuelta a España.

Biography

Born and raised in Usurbil, Gipuzkoa, Zubeldia currently resides in the neighboring village of Zarautz. His younger brother Joseba Zubeldia also competed as a professional racing cyclist.

At the age of twenty-one, Zubeldia turned professional with Euskaltel–Euskadi in 1998. In 2000, he won the Euskal Bizikleta, and finished second overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. After his win in 2000 in the Euskal Bizikleta, it took him ten years to win again, when he won the Tour de l'Ain.

In 2014, Zubeldia became the Spanish rider with the most starts in the Tour de France, a record previously held by two long-term-servants of what is now the Movistar Team, 5-time-winner Miguel Induráin, and José Vicente García. In his career, Zubeldia started 29 Grand Tours – 16 at the Tour de France, 12 at the Vuelta a España and 1 at the Giro d'Italia – finishing 26.