Erik Zabel

Erik Zabel

Personal information
Full name	Erik Zabel
Nickname	Ete
Date of birth	July 7, 1970 (1970-07-07) (age 39)
Country	Germany
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	69 kg (150 lb; 10.9 st)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)1
1993–2005 2006–2008	Telekom Milram
Major wins
Tour de France, 12 stages 6 Points Competitions (1996-2001) Vuelta a España, 8 stages 3 Points Competitions (2002-2004) UCI Road World Cup (2000) Milan-Sanremo (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001) Paris-Tours (1994, 2003, 2005) Amstel Gold Race (2000) HEW Cyclassics (2001)
Infobox last updated on:
June 25, 2007 1 Team names given are those prevailing at time of rider beginning association with that team.

Erik Zabel (born July 7, 1970 in East Berlin) is a former German professional road bicycle racer who last raced Milram. With over 200 professional wins he is considered by some^[1] one of the greatest German cyclists and best cycling sprinters of history. Zabel won a record nine points classifications ingrands tours including wearing the final green jersey in the Tour de France a record six consecutive years between 1996 to 2001 and the points jersey at the Vuelta a España in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Zabel won the Milan-Sanremo four times and numerous six-day track events.

Career

Erik Zabel during the Tour de France 2007 in London

Zabel grew up in East Berlin. After good results as an amateur, he became a professional in 1992 for a small German team. In 1993 he changed to Team Telekom (later T-Mobile Team). There he became a good sprinter. His strength was all-round ability: he could climb reasonably well. This meant that, apart from taking the maillot jaune in the Tour de France thanks to time bonuses, he could pick up further victories when other sprinters had retired and take the maillot vert to Paris. One memorable victory in securing the green jersey was in the 2001 Tour de France when his competition with Australian Stuart O'Grady continued to the final stage in Paris, where Zabel's better placing took the green jersey off O'Grady's shoulders. However, he was 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 as he had begun it: second behind Freire, this time in the world championship in Verona.

He was one of the few road cyclists of recent times who raced all yea , including track cycling in winter.

Zabel stayed competitive into his late thirties, twice winning stages in the 2006 Vuelta a España and finishing second in the 2006 world cChampionship. He won stage seven at the 2007 Vuelta a España, benefiting from a crash two kilometers from the finish that blocked all but a small group of riders. He won several other 2007 races and helped teammate and fellow sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, leading him to several wins in big races.

On April 27, 1994 Zabel tested positive for clostebol metabolites in Veenendaal. He was fined 3000 Swiss francs and lost 50 points . A suspension on probation was cancelled.^[2]

In September 2008 Zabel said he would retire the following month.^[3] In December 2008 he joined the Columbia team as an advisor, to work alongside such as Mark Cavendish, André Greipel and Mark Renshaw. ^[4] Cavendish rode critical portions of the Milan-San Remo course twice with Zabel and won.

Doping confession

On May 24, 2007 Zabel and former Team Telekom team-mate Rolf Aldag admitted using EPO to prepare for the 1996 Tour de France. Zabel told said a press conference he experimented with it for a week and stopped due to side effects. He apologized for lying about using EPO in the past.^[5] His confession was triggered by accusations by former Team Telekom masseur Jef d'Hont and the confessions of Bert Dietz, Udo Bölts and Christian Henn, all former members of Team Telekom. D'Hont's book, of which excerpts were printed in the German political magazine Der Spiegel in April 2007, accused members of Team Telekom of systematic doping with EPO in the mid-1990s.^[6]

Major achievements

Medal record
Competitor for  Germany
Road bicycle racing
UCI Road World Championships
Silver	2006 Salzburg	Elite Men's Road Race
Silver	2004 Verona	Elite Men's Road Race
Bronze	2002 Zolder	Elite Men's Road Race

As of February 2007^[update], Zabel has 192 victories as a professional, more than any other active rider.^[7]

See also

• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
• List of doping cases in cycling

References

Awards
Preceded by Nils Schumann	German Sportsman of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Sven Hannawald
Sporting positions
Preceded by Andrei Tchmil	UCI Road World Cup Champion 2000	Succeeded by Erik Dekker

v • d • e Tour de France points classification winners 1953 Fritz Schär • 1954 Ferdinand Kübler • 1955–1956 Stan Ockers • 1957 Jean Forestier • 1958 Jean Graczyk • 1959 André Darrigade • 1960 Jean Graczyk • 1961 André Darrigade • 1962 Rudi Altig • 1963 Rik van Looy • 1964–1965 Jan Janssen • 1966 Willy Planckaert • 1967 Jan Janssen • 1968 Franco Bitossi • 1969 Eddy Merckx • 1970 Walter Godefroot • 1971–1972 Eddy Merckx • 1973 Herman van Springel • 1974 Patrick Sercu • 1975 Rik Van Linden • 1976 Freddy Maertens • 1977 Jacques Esclassan • 1978 Freddy Maertens • 1979 Bernard Hinault • 1980 Rudy Pevenage • 1981 Freddy Maertens • 1982–1983 Sean Kelly • 1984 Frank Hoste • 1985 Sean Kelly • 1986 Eric Vanderaerden • 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel • 1988 Eddy Planckaert • 1989 Sean Kelly • 1990 Olaf Ludwig • 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov • 1992 Laurent Jalabert • 1993–1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov • 1995 Laurent Jalabert • 1996–2001 Erik Zabel • 2002 Robbie McEwen • 2003 Baden Cooke • 2004 Robbie McEwen • 2005 Thor Hushovd • 2006 Robbie McEwen • 2007 Tom Boonen • 2008 Óscar Freire • 2009 Thor Hushovd