although he passed away last month i didn't hear about it at the time ...
JAVIER OTXOA ((often spelled as Ochoa) 30 August 1974 - 25 August 2018)
Basque Cyclist, who lived most of his life near Malaga.
after turning pro in 1997 with Kelme Javier initially had a quiet career, riding
the 98 Giro and '99 Tour (86th overall).
in 2000 his twin brother Ricardo joined him at Kelme and Javier took his
first pro win in memorable circumstances....
on the first mountain stage of the 2000 Tour de France after being in
the lead all day he came on to the final climb to Hautacam alone still
9 minutes ahead of the peloton. in spilling rain he hung on to take the
stage win from by less than a minute from Lance Armstrong who had
blown away his climbing rivals. Javier also took the mountains jersey
which he held for several days until he passed it on to team mate Botero
the eventual winner of that jersey.
Javier's good form continued and he finished 13th in the 2000 TDF.
he was then offered a £300,000 contract for 2001 to change teams
but opted to stay with his twin Ricardo at Kelme.
the following February the Otxoa's were training near Malaga when they
were hit by a car - Ricardo was killed instantly and Javier was in a coma
for 65 days.
his parents were advised to turn off his life support and i remember
seeing their father being interviewed at the time in tears.
Javier had suffered a collapsed lung and serious back injuries as
well as major brain damage. he had to learn to walk, read, cycle etc. again.
but he was soon targeting the Paralympics and in 2004 he won two
medals in Athens at CP3 category -
Gold in Road Time Trial (CP3) and Silver in Pursuit on track
and medalled twice again in Beijing in 2008 - Gold in Road Race and
Silver again in Pursuit.
until his death i heard no more about Javier but he had been suffering
badly for some time with a brain tumour.
after the Ricardo was killed there was a protest in Madrid attended by
10,000 people including major cycling figures such as Indurain
to highlight a high death rate for cyclists in road accidents in Spain
at the time - a cyclist was being killed every three days.
despite being on a 200 meter straight section of road the driver
(who was the head of sport at the University of Malaga) claimed
he never saw Ricardo and Javier.
in court he was given a 1.800 Euro fine and a one year driving ban.
JAVIER OTXOA ((often spelled as Ochoa) 30 August 1974 - 25 August 2018)
Basque Cyclist, who lived most of his life near Malaga.
after turning pro in 1997 with Kelme Javier initially had a quiet career, riding
the 98 Giro and '99 Tour (86th overall).
in 2000 his twin brother Ricardo joined him at Kelme and Javier took his
first pro win in memorable circumstances....
on the first mountain stage of the 2000 Tour de France after being in
the lead all day he came on to the final climb to Hautacam alone still
9 minutes ahead of the peloton. in spilling rain he hung on to take the
stage win from by less than a minute from Lance Armstrong who had
blown away his climbing rivals. Javier also took the mountains jersey
which he held for several days until he passed it on to team mate Botero
the eventual winner of that jersey.
Javier's good form continued and he finished 13th in the 2000 TDF.
he was then offered a £300,000 contract for 2001 to change teams
but opted to stay with his twin Ricardo at Kelme.
the following February the Otxoa's were training near Malaga when they
were hit by a car - Ricardo was killed instantly and Javier was in a coma
for 65 days.
his parents were advised to turn off his life support and i remember
seeing their father being interviewed at the time in tears.
Javier had suffered a collapsed lung and serious back injuries as
well as major brain damage. he had to learn to walk, read, cycle etc. again.
but he was soon targeting the Paralympics and in 2004 he won two
medals in Athens at CP3 category -
Gold in Road Time Trial (CP3) and Silver in Pursuit on track
and medalled twice again in Beijing in 2008 - Gold in Road Race and
Silver again in Pursuit.
until his death i heard no more about Javier but he had been suffering
badly for some time with a brain tumour.
after the Ricardo was killed there was a protest in Madrid attended by
10,000 people including major cycling figures such as Indurain
to highlight a high death rate for cyclists in road accidents in Spain
at the time - a cyclist was being killed every three days.
despite being on a 200 meter straight section of road the driver
(who was the head of sport at the University of Malaga) claimed
he never saw Ricardo and Javier.
in court he was given a 1.800 Euro fine and a one year driving ban.
Last edited: