Joane Somarriba

Joane Somarriba Arrola (born August 11, 1972 in Gernika ) is a former Spanish-Basque cyclist and world champion. She is considered one of the best Spanish cyclists of all time.

From the early 1990s to 2005, Joane Somarriba was one of the most dominant road cyclists in cycling. In 1991 she made international attention for the first time with victory in the Basque stage race Emakumeen Bira , which she won again in 2000. In 1994 she was the first Spanish champion in road racing. In the following years, Joane Somarriba focused on stage races, many of which she won, such as the Giro d'Italia Femminile in 1999 and 2000, the Grande Boucle Féminine in 2000, 2001 and 2003 and the 2005 “Trophée d'Or Feminine” ". In 2003 she became world champion in the individual time trial in Hamilton , Canada.

Three times, in 1996, 2000 and 2004, Joane Somarriba also took part in the Olympic Games, but without winning a medal. She had already wanted to take part in the Olympic Games in 1992, but suffered a herniated disc beforehand, so that she had to take a break until 1993 and at times it looked as if she had to end her career. At the Olympic Games in Sydney , she finished fifth in the individual time trial.

In 2005 Somarriba finished third in the individual time trial at the Road World Championships in Madrid . At the end of that season, she retired from active cycling.

Joane Somarriba is married to the Basque cyclist Ramón González Arrieta . Together with journalist Jon Rivas, she wrote an autobiography in 2005 entitled Joane Somarriba .

Web links

• Joane Somarriba in the database of Radsportseiten.net
• Joane Somarriba in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Joane Somarribia. La Esfera de los Libros, Retrieved December 16, 2013 (Spanish).