Joan Llaneras

Joan Llaneras
Llaneras in 2011
Personal information
Full nameJoan Llaneras Rosselló
Born (1969-05-17) 17 May 1969 (age 55)
Porreres, Spain
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight143 lb (65 kg)[1]
Team information
DisciplineTrack
RoleRider
Rider typeMadison and points
Professional teams
1991–1995ONCE
1998U.S. Postal Service
Medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's track cycling
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney Points race
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Points race
Silver medal – second place 2004 Athens Points race
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Madison
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1996 Manchester Points race
Gold medal – first place 1997 Perth Madison
Gold medal – first place 1998 Bordeaux Points race
Gold medal – first place 1999 Berlin Madison
Gold medal – first place 2000 Manchester Points race
Gold medal – first place 2006 Bordeaux Madison
Gold medal – first place 2007 Palma de Mallorca Points race
Silver medal – second place 2000 Manchester Madison
Silver medal – second place 2001 Antwerp Madison
Silver medal – second place 2003 Stuttgart Points race
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Perth Points race
Bronze medal – third place 2005 Los Angeles Points race

Joan Llaneras Rosselló (born 17 May 1969 in Porreres, Majorca) is a former Spanish World and Olympic points race champion track cyclist. He specialises in the madison and points race events.

Llaneras began his cycling career on the road with the ONCE professional cycling team but switched to concentrate on track cycling. Llaneras is a four-time world champion in the points race and three-time champion in the Madison. He is a double Olympic champion, winning the event at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and in Beijing in 2008.

Llaneras teamed up with Isaac Gálvez to compete on the lucrative Six Days of Ghent racing circuit in November 2006. It resulted with the death of Gálvez after colliding with Dimitri De Fauw and hitting the railings.[2] Llaneras had decided to quit cycling, but a few months later in an interview with Spanish daily newspaper Marca, he said:

"Clearly I thought about leaving it all. It was the first reaction. Logical... Natural... Normal after what had happened, but life goes on, and giving it all up, unfortunately, will not solve anything. In addition, the track is my life, is my dream, my family, it is almost everything to me."

He returned to competition in 2007, and although he had no intention of returning to Madison racing,[3] Llaneras teamed up with Antonio Tauler[4] to take the silver medal in the Madison at the 2008 Summer Olympics, adding to the gold he won in the points race three days earlier. In doing so, he became the Spaniard with the most Olympic medals ever, with 2 gold and 2 silver to his name. After the Beijing Olympics, Llaneras retired.[5]

  1. ^ "Athlete Biography - LLANERAS Joan". Beijing Olympics official website. Archived from the original on 2008-08-22.
  2. ^ "Gent Six Day ends in "nightmare"". Cyclingnews.com. November 27, 2006.
  3. ^ "Llaneras to return". Cyclingnews.com. January 3, 2007.
  4. ^ "Spain's points race winner Joan Llaneras plans retirement". Velo News. August 16, 2008.
  5. ^ "Argentina lands knockout blow early". cyclingnews.com. August 19, 2008.