Michael Albasini (born 20 December 1980) is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2020, for the Phonak, Liquigas, HTC–Highroad and Mitchelton–Scott teams.[3]
.jpg) Albasini at the 2009 Tour of Austria, a race he would win overall. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname | Alba |
| Born | 20 December 1980 Vevey, Switzerland |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 65 kg (143 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Puncheur |
| Amateur teams | |
| 2000–2002 | VC Mendrisio |
| 2001 | Fassa Bortolo (stagiaire) |
| Professional teams | |
| 2003–2004 | Phonak |
| 2005–2008 | Liquigas–Bianchi |
| 2009–2011 | Team Columbia–High Road |
| 2012–2020 | GreenEDGE[1][2] |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Professional career
editAlbasini began his career in 2003 with Phonak, moved to Liquigas–Bianchi at the beginning of 2005, and signed with Team Columbia–High Road for the 2009 season. From 2012 until his retirement, Albasini rode with the Australian professional cycling team GreenEDGE.[4]
In 2012, Albasini met success at the UCI World Tour race Volta a Catalunya. The six-stage event contained no time trials, and Albasini took the lead by triumphing on the very first stage over Anthony Delaplace from Saur–Sojasun, getting a 42 seconds overall lead.[5] On the very next stage, he was part of a select group of about 20 riders that were led to the line by Bradley Wiggins after a day in the mountains and he outsprinted his rivals, taking his second win in a row.[6] He held on to his advantage on the following hilly stages, winning the overall classification by 1 minute and 30 seconds over second-placed Samuel Sánchez of Euskaltel–Euskadi.[7]
In 2015, Albasini took a prestigious podium placing at the La Flèche Wallonne, coming in third place atop the Mur de Huy behind Alejandro Valverde and Julian Alaphilippe.[8] He later won the second stage of the Tour de Romandie, having the better in the sprint of a group of 49 riders who had survived the climb and descent of the Col de la Vue des Alpes.[9] He repeated the feat the very next day in Porrentruy, winning by a couple of bike lengths over Julian Alaphilippe.[10] He had to abandon the Tour de France on Stage 5, suffering from a broken arm after a crash.[11]
In October 2019, Albasini announced that he would retire from the sport after the 2020 Tour de Suisse.[12] Following that race's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland, Albasini announced that he intended to extend his career to the end of the 2020 season.[13]
Major results
edit- 1998
- 1st
Road race, National Junior Road Championships - 2001
- 4th Overall Ster Elektrotoer
- 6th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
- 2002
- 1st
Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships - 5th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell
- 7th Overall GP Kranj
- 1st Stage 1
- 7th Giro del Lago Maggiore
- 2004
- 5th Züri-Metzgete
- 9th Paris–Bourges
- 2005
- Tour de Suisse
- 1st
Sprints classification - 1st Stage 5
- 1st
- 7th Overall Three Days of De Panne
- 10th Giro della Romagna
- 2006
- Tour de Suisse
- 1st
Mountains classification - 1st
Sprints classification
- 1st
- 3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies
- 2007
- 5th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
- 1st Stage 4
- 2008
- 2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
- 1st Stage 3
- 2nd GP Miguel Induráin
- 3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen
- 6th Tour du Haut Var
- 7th La Flèche Wallonne
- 8th Gran Premio di Lugano
- 2009
- 1st
Overall Tour of Austria
- 1st Stage 2
- 1st Stage 4 Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse
- 9th La Flèche Wallonne
- 2010
- 1st Overall Tour of Britain
- 1st Stage 3
- 4th Overall Tour de Pologne
- 10th La Flèche Wallonne
- 2011
- 1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 1st Stage 13 Vuelta a España
- 1st
Mountains classification, Tour of the Basque Country - 3rd Overall Bayern Rundfahrt
- 1st Stage 3
- 4th Overall Tour of Oman
- 2012
- 1st
Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stages 1 & 2
- 1st Stage 8 Tour de Suisse
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 2nd La Flèche Wallonne
- 4th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 2013
- 1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 1st Stage 4 Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France
- 2014
- 1st Tre Valli Varesine
- Tour de Romandie
- 1st Stages 1, 2 & 4
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 6th Giro di Lombardia
- 7th Trofeo Muro-Port d'Alcúdia
- 7th La Flèche Wallonne
- 2015
- Tour de Romandie
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- 2nd Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 3rd La Flèche Wallonne
- 2016
- Tour de Romandie
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stage 5
- 1st
- 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 7th La Flèche Wallonne
- 2017
- 1st Coppa Ugo Agostoni
- 1st Stage 2 Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie
- 2nd Vuelta a La Rioja
- 3rd Amstel Gold Race
- 4th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 4th Coppa Bernocchi
- 4th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli
- 5th La Flèche Wallonne
- 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
- 7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 10th Tre Valli Varesine
- 2018
- 1st
Overall Tour des Fjords
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 2
- 1st
- 7th Road race, UEC European Road Championships
- 2019
- 4th Time trial, National Road Championships
- 10th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton
- 10th Coppa Sabatini
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
edit| Grand Tour | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia
|
87 | — | — | — | — | — | 123 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de France
|
— | 145 | 115 | 58 | — | — | — | — | 110 | 86 | 70 | DNF | 132 | 98 | — |
 / Vuelta a España
|
— | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | 122 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 118 |
Classics results timeline
edit| Monument | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | — | — | — | — | — | 118 | — | DNF | 109 | — | — | — | — | 122 | 45 | — | — | 130 |
| Tour of Flanders | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | — | DNF | DNF | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | DNF | — | DNF | — | DNF | — | 64 | 97 | 87 | 75 | 51 | 95 | 56 | 2 | 7 | DNF | 70 | 76 |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | DNF | DNF | 6 | DNF | — | DNF | DNF | — | DNF |
| Classic | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| Amstel Gold Race | — | — | DNF | DNF | 79 | 69 | 15 | 41 | 62 | 87 | 55 | DNF | 69 | 57 | 3 | DNF | 60 | — |
| La Flèche Wallonne | DNF | — | DNF | — | DNF | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | DNF | DNF | 49 |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | 32 | — | 70 | DNF | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References
edit- ^ "Mitchelton-Scott finalise 25-rider roster for 2019". Cyclingnews.com. 15 November 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
- ^ "Wins from January to October: Mitchelton-Scott men confirm roster and goals for 2020". Mitchelton–Scott. New Global Cycling Services. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Michael Albasini to become Swiss national coach in 2021". Cyclingnews.com. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ Aubrey, Jane (5 September 2011). "Albasini joins GreenEdge in an "easy decision"". Cycling News. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ Atkins, Ben (19 March 2012). "Michael Albasini solos to Volta a Catalunya opener". VeloNation. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Albasini wins second straight stage at Catalunya". Cycling News. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Albasini takes win in Catalunya". Yahoo! Eurosport. TF1 Group. 25 March 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
- ^ "Valverde wins La Fleche Wallonne 2015". Cyclingnews.com. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
- ^ "Tour de Romandie: Albasini wins stage 2". Cyclingnews.com. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
- ^ Spencer Powlison (30 April 2015). "Take two: Albasini wins second Romandie stage, wearing yellow". VeloNews. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "Albasini abandons, fractures for heroic Matthews". Cycling Quotes. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
- ^ "Michael Albasini announces 2020 mid-season retirement". Cyclingnews.com. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Albasini prolongs career so he can retire on the road". Cyclingnews.com. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
External links
edit
- Profile at ORICA-GreenEDGE official website
- Michael Albasini at UCI
- Michael Albasini at Cycling Archives (archive)
- Michael Albasini at ProCyclingStats
- Michael Albasini at CQ Ranking
- Michael Albasini at CycleBase
- Michael Albasini at Olympedia
- Michael Albasini at Olympics.com
