| Igor Astarloa | |
| Fullname: | Igor Astarloa Askasibar |
| Birth Date: | 29 March 1976 |
| Birth Place: | Ermua, Spain |
| Height: | 1.70 m [1] |
| Weight: | 67 kg [2] |
| Discipline: | Road |
| Role: | Rider (retired) |
| Ridertype: | Classics specialist |
| Proyears1: | 2000 - 2001 |
| Proyears2: | 2002 - 2003 |
| Proyears3: | 2004 |
| Proteam3: | (until April) |
| Proyears4: | 2004 |
| Proteam4: | Lampre (from May) |
| Proyears5: | 2005 - 2006 |
| Proteam5: | Barloworld |
| Proyears6: | 2007 - 2008 |
| Proteam6: | Team Milram |
| Proyears7: | 2009 |
| Proteam7: | Amica Chips-Knauf |
| Majorwins: | One-day races and Classics World Road Race Championships (2003) Milano–Torino (2006) |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Igor Astarloa Askasibar (born March 29, 1976, in Ermua, Basque Country) is a retired cyclist from Spain.
Astarloa turned professional with the Italian cycling team and enjoyed his best season in 2003 with team when he won the Flèche Wallonne and the road race title at the World Cycling Championships at Hamilton, Canada. The following year, he joined, but when the team temporarily stopped racing due to a doping scandal, he was released to join .[3] During the 2006 transfer season it was announced that he was to leave Team Barloworld, the Continental Circuit team for which Astarloa had ridden for the last several years, and join Team Milram, a member of the UCI ProTour.
Team Milram terminated its contract with Astarloa in May 2008 following disclosures that he had shown "irregular blood values", as reported by Focus magazine.[4] He joined the Amica Chips-Knauf team, which folded in May 2009. Soon after, in June 2009, Astarloa was one of the first five riders to fall foul of the Union Cycliste International's new biological passport system, introduced to combat doping by competitive cyclists. Astarloa was unable to secure another contract that season, and retired in January 2010.[5]
On 1 December 2010, the Union Cycliste International announced that the Spanish Cycling Federation’s Disciplinary Commission had handed down a two-year suspension and a €35,000 fine to Igor Astarloa. According to Cyclingnews.com, Astarloa's blood samples had come under considerable scrutiny prior to the events of 2008-09 and in the wake of his 2003 world championships victory, although he was never punished for any infraction.[6]
| Grand Tour | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | — | 53 | — | 55 | — | — | — | DNF | |
| Tour de France | colspan=8 | ||||||||
| Vuelta a España | DNF | 63 | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete | |
|---|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |