# Alberto Fernández (cyclist)

Alberto Fernández Blanco (15 January 1955 – 14 December 1984) was a Spanish road racing cyclist. His son Alberto Fernández Sainz is also a road racing cyclist.
Fernández was born in Cuena, Cantabria. As an amateur, he won the Spanish mountain bike championships, and turned professional in 1978. During his career, he was nicknamed el Galleta ("the Biscuit"), because the town where he lived, Aguilar de Campoo, had several biscuit factories.
Fernández tested positive for the stimulant Methylphenidate (Ritalin) on stage 17 of the 1982 Vuelta a España.
His best results came during the last two years of his career. He finished 10th overall in the 1982 Tour de France, and 3rd in his first appearance in the 1983 Giro d'Italia. He also finished 3rd in the 1983 Vuelta a España, improving to 2nd in 1984, only 6 seconds behind winner Éric Caritoux (the smallest winning margin in any of the Grand Tours).
He and his wife died in a car accident in December 1984, just short of his 30th birthday.

## Major results
### 1975

    1st Subida a Gorla

### 1976

    7th Overall Tour de l'Avenir

### 1978

    2nd Overall Vuelta a los Valles Mineros
    4th Overall Vuelta a Cantabria
    5th Subida a Arrate
    7th Overall Vuelta a Asturias
    8th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
    10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country

### 1979

    1st Overall Vuelta a Asturias
    3rd Clásica de Sabiñánigo
    5th Overall Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana
    9th Overall Tour of the Basque Country

### 1980

    1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
       1st Stage 5b (ITT)
    1st Overall Vuelta a los Valles Mineros
       1st Stage 3a
    1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Cantabria
    1st Stage 4 Costa del Azahar
    6th Overall Deutschland Tour
    8th Overall Volta a Catalunya

### 1981

    1st Overall Vuelta a los Valles Mineros
       1st Stage 3a
    1st Overall Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana
       1st Stage 4b (ITT)
    2nd Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
    3rd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
       1st Stage 2b (ITT)
    3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
    6th Overall Volta a Catalunya
    6th Clásica de San Sebastián
    6th Subida al Naranco
    10th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía

### 1982

    1st Overall Volta a Catalunya
       1st Stage 7a
    1st Stages 3 & 4b Vuelta a Burgos
    1st Stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country
    1st Stage 3 (ITT) Tour Méditerranéen
    3rd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
    8th Overall Paris–Nice
    10th Overall Tour de France

### 1983

    1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
       1st Stage 2
    1st Memorial Gastone Nencini
    1st Subida a Arrate
    3rd Overall Giro d'Italia
       1st Stages 6 & 17
    3rd Overall Vuelta a España
       1st Stage 5
    5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
    5th Subida al Naranco
    8th Overall Tour of the Basque Country

### 1984

    1st Trofeo Masferrer
    2nd Overall Vuelta a España
    2nd Overall Vuelta Asturias
       1st Stages 3 & 4
    5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
    5th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme

### Grand Tour general classification results timeline

| Grand Tour | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 |
| Vuelta a España | 19 | 14 | — | DNF | 15 | 3 | 2 |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 19 |
| Tour de France | — | — | 25 | 21 | 10 | — | — |
Legend :
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |