Rubén Xaus (born 18 February 1978 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a motorcycle road racer, presently competing in the Superbike World Championship. For 2009 he joins the new factory BMW team, his first ever campaign in WSBK on anything other than a Ducati. He was runner-up in this series in 2003, and spent the next two years in MotoGP with mixed results. He is nicknamed 'Spiderman', as his lanky frame leads him to hang over the bike in an unusual way.
Superbikes
For 2001 he moved to the factory Ducati Superbike team in partnership with then-champion Troy Bayliss. He struggled early in the season, with a best result of 5th from the first 8 meetings. However, in race 2 at Oschesleben he became the first Spaniard ever to take victory in the Superbike World Championship. A pair of 2nds at Assen (helping Bayliss to clinch the title) and a second win at Imola gave him sixth to in the championship. Sixth place in 2002 was followed by fifteen podiums and seven victories in 2003, finishing runner up to team mate Neil Hodgson