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]
Major results
1991
2nd GP Libération (NED)
1993
1st Stage 1, Vuelta a Andalucia (Ruta del Sol), Chicania (ESP)