Erik Zabel

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**Erik Zabel**
Personal information

Full name	Erik Zabel
Nickname	Mr Milan-Sanremo, Ete
Date of birth	July 7, 1970
Country	Germany
Team information
Current team	Team Milram
Professional team(s)
1992-2005 2006-present	T-Mobile Team Team Milram
Major wins
*12 stages Tour de France 6 Tour de France Points Competitions 7 stages Vuelta a España 3 Vuelta a España Points Competitions 4x Milan-Sanremo 1x UCI World Cup 3x Paris-Tours 1x Amstel Gold Race 1x HEW Cyclassics

Erik Zabel (born July 7, 1970 in Unna) is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour Team Milram. He is considered to be one of the best sprinters of the late 1990s. He won the sprinter's green jersey in the Tour de France a record six consecutive years between 1996 and 2001, won the sprinter classification in the Vuelta a España in 2003 and 2004, and he has won the Classic race Milan-Sanremo four times.

1 Career
2 Major achievements
- 2.1 Tour de France record
- 2.2 Major victories

[edit] Career

Erik Zabel in the 2005 German national championships.

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 Jan Ullrich's chances in the General Classification.

For the 2006 season he is riding for Team Milram. On May 24 2006 Erik took his 200th career victory as a professional when he won the opening stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt stage race. Zabel continued to have 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.

[edit] Major achievements

Olympic medal record
World Championships
Silver	2006 Salzburg	Elite Men's Road Race
Silver	2004 Verona	Elite Men's Road Race

[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; Green Jersey; 1st, Stage 3; 1st, Stage 10
1995: 90th overall; 5th, points; 1st, Stage 6; 1st, Stage 17