Igor Antón Hernández (born 2 March 1983) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the , and squads.
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.
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 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.
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 for the 2014 season, after his previous team – – folded at the end of the 2013 season.
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 . 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.
Anton retired from racing after the last stage of the 2018 Vuelta a España. 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.
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'Italia83 — — — — —17 — —37382862DNF Tour de France — —DNF —66 — — —23 — — ——— Vuelta a España —158DNF33DNF33920 — —DNF3544
References
External links
Team Profile (in Spanish) Palmares on CyclingBase.com (French)