Tom Steels

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom Steels

Personal information
Full name	Tom Steels
Date of birth	September 2, 1971 (1971-09-02) (age 36)
Country	Belgium
Team information
Current team	Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Professional team(s)
1994–1995 1996–2002 2003–2004 2005–2007 2008–	Vlaanderen 2002 Mapei Landbouwkrediet-Colnago Davitamon-Lotto Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner
Major wins
Tour de France, 9 stages  Belgium Road Race Champion (1997, 1998, 2002, 2004) Gent-Wevelgem (1996, 1999)
Infobox last updated on:
January 2, 2008

Tom Steels (born September 2, 1971, Sint-Gillis-Waas) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, specializing in sprint finishes and one-day races.

Although now at the end of his career, he was once feared as one of the top sprinters in the peloton. He began his career with the team Vlaanderen 2002, managing to capture eight victories in his first two seasons. His breakthrough season, however, wasn't until he signed with Mapei in 1996. That year he captured the Belgian semi-classics Omloop Het Volk, and Gent-Wevelgem. His best season, arguably, was 1998 when he won his national championships for the second time (1997) and four stages in the Tour de France. Throughout his career he would become national champion again in 2002 and 2004 and would win five more stages in the Tour de France. 2006 was his first year as a professional that he failed to win a race.

In June 2007, Steels announced he would be retiring as a professional cyclist at the end of the 2008 season.

[edit] Career

[edit] Victories

[edit] External links

• Palmarès at Trap-Friis.dk

v • d • e Riders on Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner Frédéric Amorison | Dirk Bellemakers | David Boucher | Andy Cappelle | Ed Clancy | Bert De Waele | Sébastien Delfosse | Benjamin Gourgue | Steven Kleynen | Jan Kuyckx | Paul Manning | Filip Meirhaeghe | Kevin Neirynck | Sven Nys | Rob Peeters | Bert Scheirlinckx | Nico Sijmens | Ian Stannard | Tom Steels | Wouter Van Mechelen | Manager: Gérard Bulens

Persondata
NAME	Steels, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH	1971-09-02
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sint-Gillis-Waas, Belgium
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH