www.chechurubiera.info - an online magazine for fans of Chechu Rubiera
CHECHU RUBIERA: A PROFILE
On 21 July 2003, Lance Armstrong fell on the final climb to Luz Ardiden in stage 15 of the Tour de France. Back on his bike in moments, having fixed his chain and with a bleeding elbow and knee, he started pedalling. Ahead of him, Chechu Rubiera waited for his leader to take his wheel and pace him back to the lead group.
In those heart-stopping moments on Luz Ardiden with all eyes on Armstrong, something else is happening though. Look closely and you’ll see Rubiera firmly lowering his hand, signalling to the Maillot Jaune, “It’s OK, calm yourself.”
Reading race commentaries, you’ll find that Chechu Rubiera is right there when his boss needs him. On mountains across France, on the Courcheval, la Mongie and famously, on Alpe d’Huez in 2001 when Chechu led the charge to catch and ultimately pass Ullrich, he has been a dedicated and reliable domestique. After the 2001 Tour, Armstrong reportedly said that he wanted Chechu Rubiera to stay with his team until he, Armstrong, retired, money no object!
José Luis Rubiera Vigil was born on 27 January 1973 in Santa Eulalia in Baldornón, south east of Gijón in Asturias. It was an interesting time to grow up in Spain. The country, now a leading democracy in the European Community, emerged from 36 years of dictatorship under General Franco in 1975. Democratic and intellectual freedoms were restored during the next few years, tourism and culture flourished.
Chechu was brought up in Asturias, northern Spain and still lives not far from its largest city Gijón with his wife, Laura. He was given his nickname Chechu by his mum, she saw it on a Spanish novella, or TV soap.
Chechu is one of a group of talented professional cyclists from Asturias, including fellow ProTour riders, Benjamin Noval, Samuel Sanchez, Carlos Barredo and Daniel Navarro. He rode his first competitive race when he was 14, in Grado, Asturias. He finished in 10th place.
Chechu turned professional in 1995, joining his first team pro team Artiach, which a year later evolved into Kelme. His first stage-race victory took place on stage 19 at the 1997 Giro d’Italia. His palmarés grew over the next three years, culminating in a second Giro stage win in 2000. He moved to US Postal at the start of the 2001 season.
Chechu’s move to US Postal was due, in part, to the economic restrictions of Kelme. He admits that USPS didn’t offer him the best financial deal, Cofidis offered more. But he told Spanish sports newspaper, Marca that he was attracted to working for the American team because it was a well organised, affluent team with a technological superiority. And he would be riding with his Kelme team-mate, Roberto Heras. (Heras was reportedly the second highest paid member of US Postal, with a contract worth $1.5 million.)
Chechu’s racing achievements at US Postal, now Discovery Channel, are documented on the Team Discovery Channel website.
Chechu Rubiera is a respected member of the Pro peloton and a well-loved member of his team. Lance Armstrong describes him as “an easy laugher” and having “beautifully civilised manners”. To team mate Michael Barry, Chechu was “the most educated rider on the team”. In 2004, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He brought his textbooks to races, and studied on the team bus. He spent the night “after the stages with textbook on his lap, pen in hand, figuring out wiring patterns on different machines”.
In 2005, Chechu was elected as a cyclists’ representative on the council of the UCI ProTour, deputy to CSC’s Jens Voigt.
In the English language press, you’ll find a few interviews about Chechu Rubiera, occasional mentions in race reports and rare features (such as CycleSport US, May 2005). Discovery’s team fan site, The Paceline tells you more, offering some detail about his life as a cyclist. We know he loves Italian food and U2 and doesn’t watch much TV.
You have to read the Spanish press to fill in some blanks about this intelligent and articulate man, and his strong opinions. In 2003, he criticised the spectators of the TdF time trial on Alpe d’Huez for booing, “in the past, the fans came to cycling to encourage all the peloton, but now it seems that is changed”.
He spoke out against the two years suspension of Santiago Perez, who was accused of blood doping, voicing concerns about the fairness of the judgement in view of continuing questions about the 100% reliability of blood testing. Last summer, he was self-critical about his team’s performance on the first Saturday of the 2005 TdF, when Armstrong was left unsupported in the last 20km. He said, “Discovery was made to look ridiculous”. And following the Heras doping allegations in September, he said that the image of cyclists today was the worst it has been in the history of cycling.
It’s a good point. It can be challenging to be a fan of cycling, when so often we’re told that our heroes must be cheats.
But that’s why Chechu Ruberia is important to us. The more we find out about him, the more admirable he is. The more we like him. The more we want our children to know of him.
RESOURCES
The Paceline
Marca
Iberian Notes
Total Bike
Daniel Coyle, Lance Armstrong: tour de force (2005)
Lance Armstrong, Every Second Counts (2003)
Michael Barry, Inside the Postal Bus (2005)
Photo Credits: Masthead: Liz Kreutz, 2006. Left column from top: ThePaceline.com (source), chechurubiera.es.vg (source), Fotoreporter Sirotti 2001, Casey Gibson 2005. Right column from top: ThePaceline.com (source), Liz Kreutz, chechurubiera.es.vg (source), Tom Gillis, Tour of Georgia 2005, Erwin Ballarta 2005.