Matthias Kessler
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Matthias Kessler, born in Nürnberg on May 16, 1979, is a German professional cyclist currently racing for Team Astana.
Kessler debuted as a pro during the 2000 season after becoming German under 23 champion in 1999, a year in which he also took the bronze medal in the under 23 cycling world championships. Despite the fact that he has only 3 wins in his palmarès, which includes two consecutive victories at the Gran Premio Miguel Induráin and LUK-Cup of 2003, he is seen as an outsider for the Ardennes classic races.
In Grand Tours, Kessler won Stage 3 of the 2006 Tour de France in a late breakaway. The previous day on Stage 2, he was caught by the peloton less than 50 meters to the finish line. He had to abandon the 2004 Tour de France after a serious and spectacular fall caused him severe injuries, even though he managed to end the stage. In the 2005 Tour de France, he was part of the T-Mobile line-up and almost got a win at Mende.
Kessler is known for riding with his jersey open and also for wearing an undershirt intentionally torn for better cooling.
[edit] Major achievements
- 1999
- (U23)
Germany National Road Race Champion
- 2002
- 6th – Liège-Bastogne-Liège
- 2nd overall – Tour de Piemont
- 2nd overall – Luk-Cup Bühl
- 2003
- Luk-Cup Bühl
- GP Miguel Indurain
- 2004
- 3rd – La Flèche Wallonne
- 6th – Amstel Gold Race
- GP Miguel Indurain
- 2006 – T-Mobile Team
- Stage 3 – Tour de France
- 10th – La Flèche Wallonne
[edit] External links
| Riders on Astana |
|---|
|
Igor Abakoumov | Assan Bazayev | Antonio Colóm | Koen de Kort | Thomas Frei | Maxim Gourov | Rene Haselbacher | Maxim Iglinsky | Sergei Ivanov | Benoît Joachim | Andrey Kashechkin | Aaron Kemps | Matthias Kessler | Andreas Klöden | Alexey Kolessov | Julien Mazet | Eddy Mazzoleni | Gennady Mikhaylov | Andrey Mizurov | Steve Morabito | Dimitry Murajev | Gregory Rast | José Antonio Redondo | Paolo Savoldelli | Michael Schär | Alexander Vinokourov | Sergey Yakovlev |
| Manager |
| Marc Biver |
 |
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