Erik Zabel

Erik Zabel

Personal information
Full name	Erik Zabel
Nickname	Mr Milan-Sanremo, 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	Milram
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)
1993–2005 2006–	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

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

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 later seasons 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 it just as he had begun it: second behind Freire, this time in the World Cycling Championship in Verona.

Zabel was well-known for his discipline in training, and admitted that he really enjoys riding a bicycle. He was one of the few road cyclists of recent times who raced all year long, including track cycling events in the winter. For this characteristic, he was often contrasted against 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 appreciated 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 the T-mobile team wanted to go fully for Ullrich's chances in the General Classification. Ullrich did not lobby for Zabel's inclusion, remarking somewhat cryptically when asked about Zabel's absence "the best should ride."^[2]

From the 2006 season Zabel rode for Team Milram. Zabel was able to remain competitive into his late thirties, claiming two victories in the 2006 Vuelta a España and finishing 2nd at the 2006 UCI Road World Championships. He won stage seven at the 2007 Vuelta a España, benefiting from a large crash about two kilometers from the finish that blocked all but a small group of riders. He scored wins in several other 2007 races, also starred as domestique extraordinaire for teammate and fellow sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, leading him out to several sprint wins in big races.

On April 27, 1994 Zabel tested positive for Clostebol metabolites in Veenendaal. After he made a plea he was fined 3000 Swiss franc and cut back 50 points in his points record. A suspension on probation was cancelled.^[3]

In September 2008 Zabel announced that he would retire the following month through a statement by the Milram team.^[4]

Doping confession

On May 24, 2007 Zabel together with former Team Telekom team mate and personal friend Rolf Aldag admitted having used Erythropoietin (EPO) in preparation for the 1996 Tour de France. In the press conference he said that he experimented with EPO for a week, but did stop then due to severe side effects. Zabel also publicly apologized for having lied about his use of EPO in the past. ^[5]

Zabel's confession was triggered by accusations of former Team Telekom masseur Jef d'Hont from Belgium and the confessions of Bert Dietz, Udo Bölts, Christian Henn all former members of Team Telekom.

In d'Hont's book, of which excerpts where printed in the German political magazine Der Spiegel in April 2007, he accused members of Team Telekom of systematic and organized doping with EPO in the mid-1990s. ^[6] Zabel rested during certain sentences about his son, who is a successful cyclocross rider, who should grow into the sport without having to enhance his body by any means except for training. During this statement and briefly after, Zabel rested calmly on his chair in tears.

He was rare amongst sports people in admitting to drug usage in the past, while still competing. ^[7]

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.^[8]

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
Preceded by Laurent Jalabert	Winner of the green jersey in the Tour de France 1996-2001	Succeeded by Robbie McEwen

Tour de France Maillot vert (Green jersey) 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 Seán Kelly · 1984 Frank Hoste · 1985 Seán Kelly · 1986 Eric Vanderaerden · 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel · 1988 Eddy Planckaert · 1989 Seán 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