Robert Gesink 2008 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Gesink | ||
| Nickname | The Condor of Varsseveld | ||
| Born | May 31, 1986 Netherlands |
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| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 68 kg (150 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Rabobank | ||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | GC Contender | ||
| Amateur team(s) | |||
| until 2005 2005 2006 |
De Peddelaars Löwik Meubelen Rabobank Continental |
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| Professional team(s) | |||
| 2007– | Rabobank Pro Cycling Team | ||
| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on February 20, 2011 |
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Robert Gesink (born May 31, 1986 in Varsseveld, Gelderland) is a Dutch professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Rabobank.
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At the Junior World Championships of 2004 UCI Road World Championships in Verona, Gesink finished eighth in the individual time trial and sixth in the road race, while riding for team De Peddelaars in Aalten. After this rather successful WC he went to team Lowik-Van Losser for one year. He joined the Rabobank Continental team in 2006. He finished third overall in Volta ao Algarve and won the overall classification and the third stage of Settimana Ciclista Lombarda. He later won a stage and the overall classification of the Circuito Montañés and finished second in the prestigious Tour de l'Avenir. Gesink initially signed a two year deal with Rabobank Continental but team manager Theo de Rooij decided to move him to the Rabobank UCI ProTeam for the 2007 season.[1]
In his first year as professional cyclist, Gesink won the young riders jersey in the Tour of California. He finished 9th in his first UCI Pro Tour race ever, in La Flèche Wallonne, where it was calculated Gesink had done the fastest climb of the Mur de Huy. After riding another top 15 in the Tour de Romandie won by his teammate Thomas Dekker, he won his first race as professional at the queen stage in the Tour of Belgium riding away from everyone on Côte de La Redoute. The next year, he finished just outside the top ten in the Clásica de San Sebastián, fifth in the Deutschland Tour, and second in the Tour de Pologne. He subsequently got selected for the UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart. In the Giro di Lombardia he finished fifteenth.
In his 2nd year as professional, in 2008, he showed progression by winning the hardest stage in the Tour of California, Gesink rode away on the final climb, with only Levi Leipheimer holding his wheel. They stayed ahead on the final 35 kilometers of downhill and flat and Leipheimer didn't contest Gesink in the sprint. Gesink won the young riders jersey again and finished 9th in the general classification. In the Paris–Nice he finished second in the stage up to Mont Serein, five kilometers before the top of Mont Ventoux, where he was outsprinted by Cadel Evans. He then lost the jersey in the penultimate stage to Cannes, when he got isolated on the Col de Tanneron which, together with Gesink's overly careful descent, allowed Davide Rebellin to take the leader's jersey. He finished fourth in the overall classification, 51 seconds behind Rebellin, which won Gesink the youth classification.[2] He also finished twelfth in Vuelta al País Vasco and completed a successful Ardennes classics by finishing fourth in La Flèche Wallonne. In September, he then finished seventh in his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España.
In 2009, Gesink finished fourth overall in the Dauphiné. He started his first Tour de France but broke his wrist during a crash on stage 5. He completed the stage, but had to withdraw from the Tour due to his injuries.[3] He recovered in time to enter into the Vuelta a España. He finished the Vuelta a España in 6th place, he was in 2nd place, but due to a fall where he sustained deep cuts in his knee, he was too injured to keep up in the final mountain stage. Afterwards Gesink focused on regaining his form for the World Championships in Mendrisio, but he wasn't recovered fast enough and finished off the pace. However, a week later he was back to his old self and took the victory in the Giro dell'Emilia, beating Jakob Fuglsang and Thomas Lövkvist to the line in a sprint uphill. He also took 6th place in the Giro di Lombardia and finished the season as 10th on the UCI World Ranking.
Gesink’s schedule for 2010 was about the same as that of 2009, only this time he did manage to get a good result in the Tirreno–Adriatico (5th).[4] Because of the absence of, among others, Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans, he started as one of the favorites for the Tour of the Basque Country. He impressed during the most important stage, was in the top 3 and even had a chance at winning the tour, when in stage 5 he fell once again. Eventually he finished 9th and seemed to have the form he needed for the “klassiekers” (classic events). Unfortunately this was not the case. In the Amstel Gold Race, the La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège he had a disappointing race and couldn’t compete for the victory. After that he went on altitude training in the Sierra Nevada. He didn’t compete in any events for a while, while focusing on the Tour de France. His form showed during the Tour de Suisse, where he was victorious in the most difficult stage. With this win he took over the leader’s jersey from Tony Martin. In the closing time trial he had a bad day and lost his leading position to Fränk Schleck. He finally finished 5th.[5] He participated in the 2010 Tour de France for the second time, and completed it for the first time (he was forced to give up during the 2009 Tour de France due to a broken wrist). Gesink ended 6th in the general classification, becoming the first Dutchman to end so high in the general classifications in over a decade, and 2nd in the young rider classification. He also wore the White Jersey from stage 10 to 15 because the number 1 in the young rider classification, Andy Schleck, was also first in the general classification and thus wore the Yellow Jersey. Gesink would also win the Giro dell'Emilia for the second straight year.
The start of Gesink's 2011 season could not be better. He started in the Tour of Oman and took two stage wins (one uphill finish and one individual time trial in which he beat World Champion Fabian Cancellara), the overall classification and the youth classification. Gesink went on to ride the Tirreno-Adriatico after this promising start. He took the race lead after the 4th stage, but lost it a day later to Cadel Evans. In the closing time trial, Gesink showed that he really improved his time trialling and climbed in the general classification from five to second overall. He continued to show his good form in the Vuelta al País Vasco where he finished third overall. He did not continue this good form in the Hills Classics and a ninth place at the Amstel Gold Race was his best performance in the three races dominated by Philippe Gilbert.
| Grand Tour | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro | - | - | - | - |
| Tour | - | WD | 6 | 33 |
| Vuelta | 7 | 6 | - | - |
Other major stage races:
| Race | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris-Nice | - | 4 | - | - | - |
| Tirreno-Adriatico | – | – | 11 | 5 | 2 |
| Vuelta al Pais Vasco | - | 12 | 6 | 8 | 3 |
| Tour de Romandie | 13 | – | – | – | - |
| Dauphiné Libéré | WD | 4 | 4 | – | 20 |
| Tour de Suisse | – | – | – | 5 | – |