Miguel Martinez

Miguel Martinez (born January 17, 1976 in Fourchambault ) is a French mountain biker , cyclocross and road cyclist .

Athletic career

Miguel Martinez won the bronze medal in the junior race of the Cyclocross World Championships in 1993 . At the Mountain Bike World Championships in Kirchzarten in 1995 , he won the silver medal in the cross country race. In 1996 he became cyclocross world champion in the U23 class. In the same year he also won his first cross country World Cups in Bromont and Kristiansand, and won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta . In 1997 he again won two World Cup races and was also first in the overall standings. Two years later he won the silver medal at the 1999 Mountain Bike World Championships in Åre, Sweden . In the 2000 Olympic year he was cross country world champion , Olympic champion , and he again decided the overall World Cup for himself.

On the road, Martinez won a stage in the Vuelta a Navarra in 2002 and started with his team Mapei-Quick Step in the Tour de France . There he came eighth and finished the tour in 44th place in the overall ranking. The next year he rode for the Phonak Cycling Team .

In 2008 Martinez took a break from competition in order to go back to mountain bike races in 2013.

Mariano Martinez , the father of Miguel Martinez, was also a professional cyclist and won the dotted jersey at the 1978 Tour de France . His brother Martin Martinez was successful in 1974 on a section of the Vuelta a España . Miguel's older brother Yannick Martinez is also a cyclist.