Andreas Klöden
Encyclopedia
Andreas Klöden is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...

 team . His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and second place in the 2004 Tour de France
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...

 and 2006 Tour de France
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....

. Klöden is a tall, lightly built racer with enough strength to place high in the overall classifications of the Grand Tours, but his performances have been afflicted by injuries.

Biography

Klöden was born in Mittweida
Mittweida
Mittweida is a town in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, in the Mittelsachsen district. It is situated on the Zschopau River, 18 km north of Chemnitz, and 54 km west of Dresden....

 in 1975. Before he turned professional, he won the bronze medal in the Under 23 World Time Trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

 Championships in 1996, and two stages at the International Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
The International Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt is a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Since 2005 it is part of the UCI Europe Tour, being organised as 2.1 race.In its early years, it was an amateur race...

 in 1997.

The T-Mobile years (1998–2006)

Klöden signed with Team Deutsche Telekom (later T-Mobile Team) in 1998, and in his first pro season he won the Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt
Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt
The Internationale Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt is a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.-Winners:...

's General Classification
General Classification
The general classification in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi-stage bicycle races...

s (GC) and the prologue of the Tour de Normandie
Tour de Normandie
Tour de Normandie is a road bicycle race held annually in the region of Normandie, France. The race started in 1939, but was not held in the periods of 1940-1955 and 1960-1980. It was originally a race for amateurs, but was opened for professionals in 1996...

. In 1999, he won a stage at the Portuguese Tour of Algarve. But the first of his great seasons came in 2000, where after notching two important victories in the GC of Paris–Nice and Vuelta al País Vasco, he went on to obtain the bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, after fellow German Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...

 and Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov, two riders with whom he would spend several seasons on T-Mobile.

After that came three injury plagued seasons in which he gained no victories. He was forced to abandon the 2003 Tour de France
2003 Tour de France
The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...

 due to a fractured tailbone
Coccyx
The coccyx , commonly referred to as the tailbone, is the final segment of the vertebral column. Comprising three to five separate or fused vertebrae below the sacrum, it is attached to the sacrum by a fibrocartilaginous joint, the sacrococcygeal symphysis, which permits limited movement between...

. 2004 saw his cycling rebirth as he won the German National Road Racing Championships and so continued T-Mobile/Team Telekom's winning streak, which went back to Bernd Gröne
Bernd Gröne
Bernd Gröne is a retired road racing cyclist from Germany, who won the silver medal for West Germany in the men's individual road race at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He was a professional rider from 1989 to 1995.-References:...

's 1993 win of these Championships. Klöden held his great moment of form until the Tour de France
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...

, which began one week later. In that Tour, which he began as a domestique
Cycling domestique
A domestique is a road bicycle racer who works for the benefit of his team and leader. The French domestique translates as "servant". In Italy and Spain, the term gregario is used, while in Belgium and the Netherlands the term knecht or helper are used...

 for Ullrich, he did not win any stage but finished second overall after taking second place from Italian Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...

 in the final time trial. Ullrich, whom Klöden was supposed to be supporting, finished fourth that year, the only time he finished outside the top three in the Tour de France. Finishing ahead of Ullrich brought Klöden international fame and rumours circulated that he was moving to or , where he would have led the team, but instead he stayed at T-Mobile with Ullrich.

In the 2005 season he won a stage at the Bayern-Rundfahrt. Klöden as well as teammates Ullrich and Vinokourov were considered among the challengers for the 2005 Tour de France
2005 Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...

 overall victory, with Ullrich as the strongest bid. Klöden contributed to the team success of T-Mobile in the race that saw Ullrich finish 3rd and Vinokourov finish fifth. On stage 8 in the Vosges Mountains, he attacked half way up the final climb of the day and eventually took the K.O.M. points, catching breakaway leader Pieter Weening
Pieter Weening
Pieter Weening is a road bicycle racer from Harkema, Friesland, the Netherlands, currently riding for .-2005:In 2005 Weening won a stage in the Tour de France. As of today, Weening is the last Dutch stage winner in the Tour de France. After one of the closest finishes in the Tour ever, Weening won...

 right at the summit. On the way down to the finish in Geradmer, he lost the sprint finish in the closest Tour de France finish of all time – (9.6 millimetres or 0.0002 secs). Later, he withdrew from the Tour at stage 17 into Revel, having crashed during the 16th stage and fracturing a bone in his right wrist.

In the Tour of 2006, Klöden became one of the favorites for the overall victory when Ullrich, Vinokourov and Basso did not start. Vinokourov did not participate because of his teammates doping scandal, which caused his Astana team to fall below the minimum six riders to start. After somewhat weak performances in the first mountain stages, Klöden was in good shape in the Alps, climbing in the overall ranking. Klöden was very strong in the closing time trial where he finished second after his teammate Serhiy Honchar
Serhiy Honchar
Serhiy Honchar is a Ukrainian former professional road racing cyclist. He is a former world time trial champion. In the 2006 Tour de France, Honchar lead the general classification after a time-trial win in stage 7....

, climbing from fourth to the third place in the general classification over Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

. On stage 11 to the Pla D'Beret, Klöden was dropped by the leading group and lost about 1:30mins, which cost him dearly. On Stage 15, he performed strongly, dropping everyone, except eventual overall winner Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis
Floyd Landis is an American retired cyclist who after initially being awarded victory in the 2006 Tour de France was stripped of his title for a doping offense. He was an all-around rider, with special skills in climbing and time-trialing, and is also known to be a very fast descender.Landis...

. On Stage 16, Kloden again performed well, finishing fourth on the stage, however on stage 17, he again cracked on the Col de Joux Plane
Col de Joux Plane
Col de Joux Plane is a high mountain pass in the Alps in Haute-Savoie, France, linking Morzine with Samoëns. The climb has been featured several times in the Tour de France cycling race-Climb details:...

, but recovered on the descent, thanks mainly to the help given to him by team-mate Patrik Sinkewitz
Patrik Sinkewitz
Patrik Sinkewitz is a professional German road racing cyclist for . He is a climbing specialist who can ride well over a stage race, as in winning the 2004 nine-stage Deutschland Tour. He has also ridden well in one-day races such as Liège–Bastogne–Liège, which he finished in the top 10 in 2006...

.

The Astana years (2007–2009)

On August 27, 2006, Klöden announced that he would ride for in the 2007 season, although Vinokourov was the team captain. This announcement came as something of a surprise to the cycling community because Klöden, despite his talent and accomplishments, would almost certainly not be the leader of that team, which was organized around Alexandre Vinokourov. During the Tour de France, he rode well, but had to help Astana captain Vinokourov, and lost a few minutes. An accident almost saw the repeat of his 2003 Tour injury, but this time the injury to the coccyx was just a hairline fracture and he was able to continue. Astana formally withdrew from the 2007 Tour de France
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain...

 on July 24, when Vinokourov's doping test was found to be positive.

His racing in September was interrupted by injury, following an accident while out training when a car crossed his path forcing him to swerve, Klöden ended up in a ditch. Although an X-ray showed no broken bones, he missed the GP de Plouay
GP de Plouay
Grand Prix de Plouay is a professional road bicycle racing event held in Plouay, France on the UCI Women's Road World Cup.- Past results :-External links:*...

 and the Tour of Poland.

On October 2, 2009 it was confirmed that Klöden would join Team RadioShack
Team RadioShack
Team RadioShack is a professional road bicycle racing team, with RadioShack as the title sponsor, the creation of which was announced on July 23, 2009. Lance Armstrong co-owns and leads the team, which plans to race in the Grand Tours and the UCI ProTour, as well as running and triathlon events...

 for the 2010 season

2009 Doping allegations

In 2009 allegations emerged claiming that Andreas Klöden used the Freiburg University Clinic
University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine
The University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine is the medical school and biomedical research unit of the University of Freiburg...

 for an illegal
Blood doping
Blood doping is the practice of boosting the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream in order to enhance athletic performance. Because such blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, a higher concentration in the blood can improve an athlete’s aerobic capacity and...

 blood transfusion
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...

 during the 2006
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....

 Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

.

The Team Radioshack Years (2010-)

Klöden had an uneventful 2010 season. He finished the 2010 Tour de France in 14th place 16’36” behind Contador. His other biggest finishes were 8th in Tour de Suisse and Eneco Tour.

2011 saw a rebirth of Klöden’s career when he won the 2011 Vuelta al País Vasco while also finished 2nd in Paris-Nice and getting a stage victory. He also had 2 ITT victories in Giro del Trentino
Giro del Trentino
The Giro del Trentino is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically mid-to-late April over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy....

 and Critérium International
Critérium International
The Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....

. He carried his good form into the 2011 Tour de France
2011 Tour de France
-Pre-race favourites:2010 winner Alberto Contador was suspended from cycling during a doping investigation from September 2010 to February 2011, during which time 2010 runner-up Andy Schleck was regarded as the favourite. When the suspension was lifted, Contador declared his desire to compete in...

 but crashed and had to withdraw.

Major achievements

1998
1st Overall Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt
1st Stage 3A
1st Prologue Tour de Normandie

1999
1st Stage 3 Volta ao Algarve
Volta ao Algarve
The Volta ao Algarve is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Due to its early February position in the European calendar, it is used by many riders to prepare for the Spring...


2000
1st Overall Vuelta al País Vasco
1st Stage B
1st Overall Paris–Nice
1st Stage 7
1st Stage 7 Peace Race
3rd Bronze Medal, Olympics Road Race
12th Olympics Time Trial

2004
1st National Road Race Champion
2nd Overall Tour de France
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...


2005
1st Stage 5 Bayern-Rundfahrt
Bayern-Rundfahrt
The International Bayern Rundfahrt is a stage race cycling race held each year in Bavaria, Germany. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour.The race was held as an amateur race between 1980 and 1988.- Winners :...


2006
1st Overall Regio-Tour
Regio-Tour
The Regio-Tour is a multi-stage road bicycle race held between France, Switzerland and Germany. It was first held in 1985 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour...

2nd Overall Tour de France
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....

 (promoted due to exclusion of Floyd Landis)

2007
1st Overall, Tirreno–Adriatico
1st Circuit Cycliste Sarthe
1st Stage 2

2008
1st Overall Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 3
2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
Tour de Suisse
The Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...


2009
2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
2009 Tour de Luxembourg
The 2009 Tour de Luxembourg cycling race was the 69th running of the Tour de Luxembourg. It was won by Fränk Schleck from Luxembourg, the first home rider to win this race in 26 years.-Stages:Key:...

3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
1st Stage 5
6th Overall Tour de France
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...

1st Stage 4 (TTT)

2011
1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
2011 Tour of the Basque Country
The 2011 Tour of the Basque Country, was the 51st running of the Tour of the Basque Country cycling stage race. It started on 4 April in Zumarraga and ended on 9 April in Zalla and consisted of six stages, including a race-concluding individual time trial...

1st Points classification
2nd Overall Paris–Nice
2011 Paris–Nice
The 2011 Paris–Nice was the 69th running of the Paris–Nice cycling stage race, often known as the Race to the Sun. It started on 6 March in Houdan and ended on 13 March in Nice and consisted of eight stages, including a time trial...

1st Stage 5
1st Stage 3 ITT Critérium International
Critérium International
The Critérium International is a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932....

1st Stage 1 ITT Giro del Trentino
Giro del Trentino
The Giro del Trentino is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically mid-to-late April over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of Italy....


Grand Tour General Classification results timeline

Grand Tour 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Giro
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

- - - - - - - - - - WD
2008 Giro d'Italia
The 2008 Giro d'Italia was the 91st running of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It began in Palermo on 10 May and ended in Milan on 1 June. Twenty-two teams entered the race, which was won by Spaniard Alberto Contador of the cycling team...

- - -
Tour
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

- - - 26
2001 Tour de France
The 2001 Tour de France was particularly difficult, having contained a 67-km long team time trial, two individual time trials and five mountain-top finishes on consecutive days, the second of which being the Chamrousse special category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were...

- WD
2003 Tour de France
The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...

2
2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st, taking place from July 3 to July 25, 2004. It consisted of 20 stages over 3391 km.Lance Armstrong became the first to win six Tours de France. Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and...

WD
2005 Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...

2
2006 Tour de France
The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd Tour de France, taking place from July 1 to July 23, 2006. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of apparent winner Floyd Landis....

WD
2007 Tour de France
The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain...

- 6
2009 Tour de France
The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco...

14
2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...

WD
2011 Tour de France
-Pre-race favourites:2010 winner Alberto Contador was suspended from cycling during a doping investigation from September 2010 to February 2011, during which time 2010 runner-up Andy Schleck was regarded as the favourite. When the suspension was lifted, Contador declared his desire to compete in...

Vuelta
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

WD
1998 Vuelta a España
The 53rd edition of the Vuelta a España was held 5 to 27 September 1998 and began in Córdoba and ended in Madrid. The 1998 Vuelta had 22 stages over 3,774 km with the winning average speed of 40.262 km/h....

62
1999 Vuelta a España
The 1999 Vuelta a España was the 54th Vuelta a España, taking place from September 4 starting in Murcia and finishing in Madrid on September 26, 1999. It consisted of 21 stages over 3576 km, ridden at an average speed of 39.449 km/h. The favourites were Laurent Jalabert, Alex Zülle, Jan...

WD
2000 Vuelta a España
The 55th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from August 26 to September 17, 2000. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 2,904 km, and was won by Roberto Heras of the cycling team.-External links:**...

- WD
2002 Vuelta a España
The 57th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from September 7 to September 29, 2002...

- - - - - 20
2008 Vuelta a España
The 2008 Vuelta a España was the 63rd edition of the Vuelta a España, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The event took place from 30 August to 21 September 2008 over 21 stages covering . The first stage was a team time trial in Granada. The event finished in Madrid 23 days later...

- - WD
2011 Vuelta a España
The 2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The race began in Benidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, in Madrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition of the race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited the Basque Country...



WD = withdrew

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK