Biography
Born in Pamplona, Zandio grew up in a sporting family—one brother is a footballer and another a pelota player—and decided at the age of 17 to become a cyclist rather than work for his parents' butchery business.
He began his professional career in 2001 with the iBanesto.com team (which was renamed Illes Balears-Banesto in 2004, and Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne in 2005). After a difficult 2004 season in which injuries drained him physically and emotionally, he returned with a strong performance in the 2005 Tour de France. Finishing in 22nd place overall, he managed 4th in the 18th stage, and 2nd in the 16th, behind Óscar Pereiro.
He currently resides in Pamplona with his fiancée.
Read more about this topic: Xabier Zandio
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“In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, “memoirs to serve for a history,” which is but materials to serve for a mythology.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)