Fernando Escartín

Fernando Escartín Coti (Biescas, Huesca; January 24, 1968) is a former Spanish professional cyclist, who stood out as a great climber during the 1990s thanks to his great performances in the Vuelta a Spain and, especially, in the Tour de France, where he reached the podium in the 1999 edition.

Biography

In his eleven years as a professional he played for three teams, CLAS-Cajastur, which evolved into Mapei, and Kelme-Costa Blanca, where he became the team leader and where he achieved great success as a professional runner., and Team Coast, his last team until his retirement. In his early days as a runner he was a member of Tony Rominger in the Clas-Cajastur.

Fernando Escartín, a purely climbing cyclist (1.75 m and 61 kg), it can be said that everything he gained in the mountains he lost in time trials since he was not a great time trialist although he improved in the last years of his sports career achieving more than acceptable results. His climbing style was unmistakable, always looking like a sufferer and always pulling "kidney". It was very difficult for him to finish the stages, and it is paradoxical that being one of the best climbers of the time, he barely has victories in his record. The cyclist was one of the most loved by the fans.

His greatest triumphs as a professional cyclist were in the 1999 season in which he achieved two of his main objectives: to be on the podium of the most important race of the moment, the Tour de France, and to win the queen stage of the race. French of that same year with a finish in the Piau Engaly ski resort. In addition, it was his first stage victory in a three-week race, beating Armstrong himself. Fernando Escartín should be given the credit for having won the 1999 Tour de France, since both the first classified, Lance Armstrong, and the second, Alex Zülle, who came from the Festina cycling team, which gave rise to the Festina Doping Case due to EPO of the entire team, years later it was shown that they ran the Tour doped, and were later disqualified for it. Escartín was the only cyclist who raced supposedly clean, and was on the podium, taking third place. However, he never personally claimed the first place that should have been his on the podium that year.

It is also worth noting that in the Vuelta a España he achieved two second places (1997 and 1998) and started as one of the favorites in the 1999 edition. An unfortunate fall descending Puerto del Cordal under heavy rain forced him to abandon in that edition.

As total triumphs he achieved the general victory of the Vuelta a los Valles Mineros in 1995 and the Volta a Catalunya in 1998. As partial triumphs he has achieved stages in the Vuelta a Galicia, Vuelta a Aragón, Vuelta a los Puertos, Vuelta a Asturias and in the Tour de France.

On October 29, 2002, Fernando announced his professional retirement in a brief statement. Some time after his retirement, he embarked on an interesting project of ascending Aconcagua with other elite athletes from different disciplines and with the mountaineer Juanito Oiarzabal.

Since November 2013, Fernando Escartín has been part of the Technical Management of the Vuelta a España.

Palmarés

Results

Great Tours

-: does not participate
Ab.: abandonment

Minor laps

Teams

• CLASS-Cajastur (1990-1993)
• Mapei (1994-1995)
  • Mapei-CLAS (1994)
  • Mapei-GB (1995)
• Kelme (1996-2000)
  • Kelme-Artiach (1996)
  • Kelme-Costa Blanca-Eurosport (1997)
  • Kelme-Costa Blanca (1998-2000)
• Team Coast (2001-2002)