His first time riding
Oscar Pereiro began riding the bicycle in Carracido, Porrino. He was four years old and astonished with his talent to descent. People used to say: “This boy is daring, he is going to break his neck one day” as his mum Carmen relates.
As a child he was short for his age. He was nicknamed “Cascarilla” due to his constitution. Riding in the under 16 category he hardly could manage the bicycle because there was no bicycle small enough.
His years as Junior
It was as a Junior riding for C.C.Spol that Pereiro got used to stand on the podium, for example in the Spanish and Galician Championships. During this time, he won the road racing, cycle-cross and mountain bike category in the Galician Championships, all in the same year! This is an unusual and very difficult achievement.
Pereiro was starting to attract attention and to surprise cycling fans. Demonstrating his bike control skills with trial exhibitions in clubs and sport halls, was not only a welcomed opportunity of earning money but where many people not involved in cycling where astonished by his skills and abilities.
Triple national crown and Volta a Portugal do Futuro
As an amateur Pereiro kept riding cyclo-cross and road disciplines. He used to go to the races in his olive-green Vauxhall Corsa together with his brother Jonathan, Maria, his partner and nowadays wife, and some friends who helped as team assistants. Pereiro was habitually finishing on the podium of the races. He was Spanish ciclo cross champion and won three Galician championships.
Before that, he had aspired to be a construction designer and had worked as plumber assistant and courier. During this time he even thought to give up cycling but luckily he reconsidered this.
He decided to dedicate another year to road racing. Soon success was evident and he was wining competitions. It was in 1999 riding for C.C. Ponteareas where Pereiro performed one of those great feats which he is famous for. Riding the last stages of the Vuelta a Portugal do Futuro with just one team-mate he was able to win the race.
The jump to Portugal
After winning the Vuelta a Portugal do Futuro he signed a professional contract with the Porta da Ravessa cycling team and began his professional career. As for other Galician cyclists Portugal was the bridge to professionalism. At the Porta da Ravessa Team he had another Galician team-mate, Gustavo Otero, but he left a lot of friends back in Spain. In his first year as professional he already showed his talent achieving an eight place at the overall classification on the Tour of Portugal and other important places in several races in the Portugal and Spain.
After his success in Portugal he was hired by Alvaro Pino the Phonak team manager. There he was able to develop his full potential, guided by a team with great resources and access to the most important races.
In Switzerland, the great opportunity
Wearing the Phonak colours, run by the Swiss multimillionaire Andy Rish, Perreiro exceeded at international level. Pereiro’s first three week race was the Tour of Italy where he was eleventh in the overall classification and confirming his regularity and strength at this kind of races. In his first Tour of France he finished tenth in the overall classification. That was the beginning of a love affair between Pereiro and the most important race on the world.
The following year he was again in the top ten. But it was not just the overall classification. That year he was the first Galician winning a stage at the Tour of France. After tasting success in Saint Lary Soplan, where he was beaten just by George Hincapie, he did not give in and won the next stage finishing in Pau. His hunger for triumph and courage was rewarded with Trophy of the most combative cyclist of the race.
That season, Pereiro had his debute at the road race World Championships in Madrid. Although he had been selected as a substitute in the Spanish team before, he had not taken part in the World Championship so far. Pereiro contributed to Alexander Valverde’s silver.
Wearing the yellow jersey with the Caisse d'Epargne
In 2006 Pereiro was incorporated to the Caisse d’Epargne team. With the José Miguel Echavarri y Eusebio Unzué’s team he went to the Tour of France with a big goal, finishing at the top five. Pereiro sank in the Portillon, where he lost more than 26 minutes. But in Montelimar, he signed an epic stage and he obtained an advantage of almost half an hour over the bunch. Thus it was how a Galician wear for the first time the yellow jersey of the Tour or France, "the greatest in cycling", as the rider said that day. Later, he yielded the yellow, but he returned to recover it in another epic day and he finally yielded it in the penultimate day, a time trial, modality in which Floyd Landis confirmed his condition of favourite. Finally, Pereiro raised the second step of the podium at the Elíseos Fields.
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