Erik Zabel
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Erik Zabel |
| Nickname | Mr Milan-Sanremo, Ete |
| Date of birth | July 7, 1970 (age 36) |
| Country |  Germany |
| Height | 1.78 m |
| Weight | 69 kg |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Milram |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Sprinter |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1993-2005 2006- |
Telekom Milram |
| Major wins | |
Tour de France, 12 stages
Vuelta a España, 7 stages
UCI Road World Cup (2000) |
|
| Infobox last updated on: | |
| January 10, 2007 | |
Erik Zabel (born July 7, 1970 in Berlin) is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour Team Milram. With 192 career wins he is considered to be one of the greatest German cyclists and best sprinters of cycling history. Zabel has won a record nine points classification titles at Grand Tours including wearing the final green jersey in the Tour de France a record six consecutive years between 1996 through 2001 and the points jersey at the Vuelta a España in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Beyond his Grand Tours accomplishments, Zabel has won the Classic race Milan-Sanremo four times and numerous six-day track cycling events.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Zabel grew up in East Berlin. After good results as an amateur cyclist, he became a professional in 1992 for a small German team. In 1993 he changed teams to Team Telekom (the later T-Mobile Team). There he became a good sprinter. His biggest strength was his all-round ability: whereas specialist sprinters such as Mario Cipollini would leave the big stage races before the mountain stages, Erik Zabel could climb reasonably well. This meant that, apart from being able to take the yellow jersey (maillot jaune) in the Tour de France thanks to the time bonuses, he could pick up further victories in latter stages, when other sprinters had retired, and take the green jersey (maillot vert) to Paris. One of his most memorable victories in securing the green jersey was in the 2001 Tour de France when his competition with Australian Stuart O'Grady continued all the way to the final stage in Paris, where Zabel's better placing finally took the green jersey off O'Grady's shoulders. However, in recent seasons he has been beaten by Australian Robbie McEwen in 2002, 2004 and 2006 and Baden Cooke in 2003.
In 2004, Zabel began the season losing what would have been his fifth Milan-Sanremo to Óscar Freire because he lifted his arms to celebrate too soon. Then, after 9 victories throughout the season (and 18 second places) Zabel ended it just as he had begun it: second behind Freire, this time in the World Cycling Championship in Verona.
Zabel is well-known for his discipline in training, and admits that he really enjoys riding a bicycle and training. He is one of the few current road cyclists who race all year long, including track cycling events in the winter. For this character, he is often compared to the other star of his former team, Jan Ullrich. Walter Godefroot, manager of T-Mobile Team, commented that if only Ullrich had the discipline of Zabel, his team would have won many editions of the Tour de France. In return, Zabel commented that his approach to training is not universally applicable to all cyclists, and that he appreciates the presence of a star of Ullrich's popularity on the team to take the pressure off of him. Zabel also said in a recent interview that he has always admired Godefroot's race results, and that he considers Godefroot as a father figure.
He was not selected for the 2005 Tour de France, possibly because T-mobile team wanted to go fully for Ullrich's chances in the General Classification.
For the 2006 season he is riding for Team Milram. Zabel had a strong season, claiming two victories in the 2006 Vuelta. More surprisingly, he finished 2nd at the World Championship. At the age of 36, Zabel is still able to ride for big victories.
On 27 April 1994 Erik Zabel tested positive for Clostebolmetabolin in Veenendal. After he made a plea he was fined 3000 Swiss franc and cut back 50 points in his points record. A suspension on probation was cancelled.[1]
[edit] Major achievements
| Olympic medal record | ||
| World Championships | ||
|---|---|---|
| Silver | 2006 Salzburg | Elite Men's Road Race |
| Silver | 2004 Verona | Elite Men's Road Race |
In all, Zabel has 192 victories as a professional, more than any other active rider.[2]
[edit] Major Victories
- Grand Tours
- Tour de France: 12 stages, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002,
- Vuelta a España: 7 stages, 2001, 2003, 2006
- Blue with yellow fish jersey: Points classification (2002, 2003, 2004)
- Other one-day classics and stage races
- UCI Road World Cup: (2000)
- Deutschland Tour: Points classification (2002, 2006)
- Tour de Suisse: Points classification (2002)
- Tirreno-Adriatico: Points classification (2002)
- Milan-Sanremo: (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001)
- HEW Cyclassics: (2001)
- Amstel Gold Race: (2000)
- UCI Road World Championships: Silver Medal (2nd 2002, 2nd 2006)
- Paris-Tours: (1994, 2003, 2005)
- Germany National Cycling Championship - Road Race: (1998, 2003)
- Rund um den Henninger Turm: (2002, 2005)
- Grote Scheldeprijs: (1997)
- Tour of the Netherlands: Points classification (2002)
- Six Days of Munich: (1995 with Etienne de Wilde, 2001 with Silvio Martinello, 2005 with Robert Bartko, 2006 with Bruno Risi)
- Six Days of Dortmund: (1996, 2000, 2001, 2005 with Rolf Aldag; 2006 with Bruno Risi)
- SixDayNight, Büttgen: (2006 with Bruno Risi)
[edit] Tour de France record
- 2006: 86th overall; 2nd, points;
- 2004: 59th overall; 3rd, points;
- 2003: 107th overall
- 2002: 82nd overall; 1st, Stage 6; 1 day in yellow jersey (after Stage 3); 11 days in green jersey
- 2001: 96th overall; 1st, points green jersey; 1st, Stage 1; 1st, Stage 3; 1st, Stage 19
- 2000: 61st overall; 1st, points green jersey; 1st, Stage 20
- 1999: 89th overall; 1st, points green jersey;
- 1998: 62nd overall; 1st, points green jersey; 1 day in yellow jersey (after Stage 2)
- 1997: 66th overall; 1st, points green jersey; 1st, Stage 3; 1st, Stage 7; 1st, Stage 8
- 1996: 82nd overall; 1st, points, green jersey; 1st, Stage 3; 1st, Stage 10
- 1995: 90th overall; 5th, points; 1st, Stage 6; 1st, Stage 17
[edit] References
| Preceded by Andrei Tchmil |
UCI Road World Cup Champion 2000 |
Succeeded by Erik Dekker |
| Riders on Team Milram |
|---|
|
Igor Astarloa | Mirko Celestino | Alessandro Cortinovis | Volodymyr Dyudya | Sergio Ghisalberti | Ralf Grabsch | Andriy Hryvko | Denis Haueisen | Matej Jurco | Christian Knees | Brett Lancaster | Mirco Lorenzetto | Martin Müller | Alberto Ongarato | Alessandro Petacchi | Enrico Poitschke | Elia Rigotto | Fabio Sabatini | Fabio Sacchi | Björn Schröder | Sebastian Schwager | Carlo Scognamiglio | Marcel Sieberg | Sebastian Siedler | Niki Terpstra | Marco Velo | Erik Zabel |
| Manager |
| Gianluigi Stanga |
