Marino Lejarreta

Marino Lejarreta
To person
Full name	Marino Lejarreta Arrizabalaga
Nickname	El Junco de Berriz
Date of birth	May 14, 1957
nation	Spain
discipline	Street
Team (s)
1979 ; 1980–1982 ; 1982–1984 ; 1985 ; 1986 ; 1987–1989 ; 1990–1992	Novostil-Helios ; Teka; Alfa Lum ; Alpilatte-Cierre ; Seat-Orbea ; Caja Rural ; ONCE
Most important successes
	Overall ranking Vuelta a España 1982 ; Clásica San Sebastián 1981, 1982, 1987
	Last updated: May 30, 2020

Homenaje a Marino Lejarreta in Oviedo

Lejarreta (2017)

Marino Lejarreta Arrizabalaga (born May 14, 1957 in Bérriz , Spain ) is a former Spanish cyclist . He began his professional career in 1979 and ended it in 1992 with 64 professional victories.

Athletic career

Marino Lejarreta grew up in his birthplace Bérriz in the Basque Country below Monte Oiz . At the age of 16, like his older brothers Ismael and Néstor, he started cycling; his first own bike was assembled from used parts. He trained his mountain skills on trips together in the nearby Aitxuri massif . In 1979 he did his military service.

In 1980 Lejarreta had its first national success when he won the Tour of Catalonia , a stage of the Tour of Asturias and the Escalada a Montjuïc . His driving style - rather unsteady, but with an unmoved face - and his lanky figure soon earned him the nickname El Junco de Bérriz ( the reed from Bérriz ). In 1982 he started at the Vuelta a España . The supposed winner, his compatriot Ángel Arroyo , tested positive for methylphenidate (Ritalin) and was given a ten-minute penalty. This made Lejarreta the winner, and Arroyo slipped to 13th place. At the following road world championships, he finished fifth in the road race . In 1983 he moved to Italy because he wanted to benefit from the Italian cycling culture, but also because of the fragile political situation in the Basque Country.

Lejarrete was the only driver to win the one-day race Clásica San Sebastián three times. He is also the only professional cyclist in the world who has tackled and finished the three Grand Tours ( Tour de France , Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España ) four times in his career during one year (as of 2019). He succeeded in doing this in 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1991. He placed in the top ten a total of 13 times.

In April 1992, Lejarreta fell at the Klasika Primavera de Amorebieta , not far from Bérriz , and was seriously injured. After doctors told him that he would take at least a year to recover, he ended his cycling career. He was involved in the founding of the Fundación Euskadi and from 2000 worked in various functions in team management, such as at ONCE or Liberty Seguros .

Miscellaneous

A nephew of Lejarreta - the son of his brother Ismaels - who was born in 1983, the mountain biker Iñaki Lejarreta , died in 2012 after being hit by a car during a training ride .

In 2003, in Oviedo, the capital of Asturias , a Homenaje a Marino Lejarreta monument by the sculptor Rafael Rodríguez Urrusti was unveiled for him .