Basque rider Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano will announce his end of season retirement today at a press conference during the Vuelta's first rest day. Gonzalez de Galdeano, who will be 32 on November 1, is currently riding the Vuelta in support of his Liberty Seguros teammate Roberto Heras. Highlights of his career include finishing second in the Vuelta in 1999 and fifth in the Tour de France in 2002 and the yellow jersey for several days that year, three stage wins in the Vuelta and the Spanish time trial championship.
He was also suspended for six months in France by the Conseil de prévention et de lutte contre le dopage after testing positive for salbutamol during the 2002 Tour. The positive test was not recognised by the UCI in this instance, as the UCI's limit for salbutamol differed from the World Anti-Doping Agency limit at that time.
