Erik Zabel facts for kids
Zabel at the 2017 Rund um Köln
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| Personal information | |||
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| Full name | Erik Zabel | ||
| Nickname | Ete | ||
| Born | 7 July 1970 East Berlin, East Germany |
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| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in) | ||
| Weight | 69 kg (152 lb; 10 st 12 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Major wins | |||
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Erik Zabel (born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. He rode for most of his career with Team Telekom. Many people think he is one of the greatest German cyclists ever. He is especially known as a cycling sprinter.
Zabel won an amazing nine points classifications in major races called Grand Tours. This includes the green jersey six times in a row at the Tour de France from 1996 to 2001. He also won the points classification at the Vuelta a España in 2002, 2003, and 2004. Erik Zabel won the famous Milan–San Remo race four times. He also won many six-day track events. He was one of the few road cyclists who raced all year. This included track cycling in the winter. After retiring from racing, he became a sprint coach. He is the father of another cyclist, Rick Zabel.
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Erik Zabel's Early Life and Amateur Racing
Erik Zabel grew up in East Berlin, Germany. His father, Detlev, was also a professional cyclist. Erik had his first international success as a junior. He won third place in the team pursuit at the track world championship. This was with the East German team. In 1988, he finished fifth in the points race. The next year, at 19, he joined the East German national track team. He became the national champion of East Germany in the individual pursuit that year.
After the Fall of the Berlin Wall, he moved to Dortmund. He joined the amateur team RC Olympia Dortmund. In 1991, he was second at the first national road championship for a united Germany. He won a regional championship in North Rhine-Westphalia. He was then chosen for the German amateur team for the World Championship. In 1992, he became known as a strong sprinter. He won the green jersey in the Peace Race. He also won several stages in other races. In July 1992, he was fourth in the road race at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He won the sprint of the main group of riders there.
Erik Zabel's Professional Cycling Career
Starting Out: 1993–1995
In late 1992, Erik Zabel became a professional cyclist. He first joined a small German team called Union-Frondenberg. In 1993, he moved to Team Telekom. This is where he really grew as a sprinter. In 1994, he won Paris–Tours. This was his first big win in a classic race. He won it in a group sprint.
In 1995, he achieved his first success in a Grand Tour. He won two stages in the 1995 Tour de France.
Winning Green Jerseys and Classic Races: 1996–1999
In 1996, Zabel won two more stages in the Tour de France. He also won the points classification. He took the green jersey on stage 10 and kept it until the end. His Telekom team also had a great year. They finished first and second overall with Bjarne Riis and Jan Ullrich.
In 1997, Zabel won his first major classic race, Milan–San Remo. He was the only sprinter in a large group to reach the finish. He easily won the sprint. Later that year, he won three stages at the Tour de France. He also secured his second green jersey.
In 1998, he won Milan–San Remo for the second time. He also became the national road champion of Germany. He won his third green jersey in the Tour de France. This time, he did it without winning a stage.
In 1999, he finished second in Milan–San Remo. He won the sprint of the main group. He also won the important German race Rund um den Henninger Turm in Frankfurt. He won his fourth green jersey in a row at the Tour de France. This tied the record set by Sean Kelly. Again, he won it without a stage victory.
Becoming World Number One: 2000–2002
In 2000, Zabel won two big races in the UCI Road World Cup. He won Milan–San Remo for the third time. He also had a surprising win at the Amstel Gold Race. He beat Michael Boogerd in a group sprint. That summer, he won an amazing fifth green jersey. This broke Kelly's previous record. By the end of the year, he was the best overall in the World Cup. He was also number two in the world rankings.
In 2001, he won Milan–San Remo for the fourth time. Only cycling legend Eddy Merckx had won it more. This earned him the nickname Signore Milano-Sanremo in Italy. He won the points classification in the Tour de France for the sixth time in a row. He also won three stages. Zabel's streak of six green jerseys was special. He was a very strong sprinter. But he could also climb hills quite well. This meant he could win stages even when other sprinters had given up. He could also keep the green jersey (for the points leader) all the way to Paris. One memorable win was in the 2001 Tour de France. His competition with Australian Stuart O'Grady lasted until the very last stage in Paris. Zabel's better finish took the green jersey from O'Grady. Later that summer, he also won the HEW Cyclassics. This is Germany's biggest one-day classic. It was his seventh World Cup race win. In September, he won three stages in a row in the Vuelta a España. He finished fifth in the World Championship road race in Lisbon.
The year 2001 was his most successful ever. He won 29 races. He was ranked number one in the world at the end of the year.
In 2002, he missed the main group in Milan–San Remo. But he won Rund um den Henninger Turm for the second time. That summer, he did not win a seventh green jersey in the Tour de France. He won one stage, his twelfth in total. But Australian Robbie McEwen beat him in the final points classification. Instead, he won the points classification in the Vuelta a España. He did this without winning a stage. In Zolder, Belgium, he finished third at the World Championship. He was behind Mario Cipollini and Robbie McEwen in a group sprint. He stayed number one in the world rankings at the end of the year.
Vuelta Success and Podium Finishes: 2003–2005
In 2003, Zabel became the national road champion of Germany again. But he did not win a stage in the Tour de France. He was third in the final points classification. He won two stages in the Vuelta. He also won the points classification of that race again. In October, he won Paris–Tours for the second time. He set a record for the fastest average speed in a one-day race. This record stood until 2010. He ended the year as number two in the world rankings.
In 2004, Zabel almost won his fifth Milan–San Remo. He celebrated too early and Óscar Freire passed him at the finish. He was third in the Tour de France points classification. He was first in the Vuelta points classification. This was his ninth points classification win in a Grand Tour, a new record. At the 2004 Olympics in Athens, he was fourth in the road race. He won the sprint of the main group. But he missed an Olympic medal again. He had 9 wins and 18 second places that season. He finished the year second in the world championship.
In 2005, Zabel won Rund um den Henninger-Turm for a third time. This was his first win of the season. In May, he raced in the Giro d'Italia for the first time. He wanted to win the points classification there. But he did not win a stage. He was sixth in the points ranking. His T-Mobile Team decided not to pick him for the Tour de France. Zabel was not happy about this. He announced he would leave the team at the end of the year. He rode the Vuelta, but did not win a stage or the points classification. He also did not do well in the World Championship in Madrid. In October, he won Paris–Tours for the third time. This tied the record for that classic race.
Team Milram and Retirement: 2006–2008
At 35, Zabel left Team Telekom after 13 years. He joined the Italian-German team Milram in 2006. He teamed up with Alessandro Petacchi, who was considered the fastest sprinter. Petacchi got injured, so Zabel became the team leader. Zabel won his first race of the season in May. It was a stage in the Bayern Rundfahrt. In the Tour, he was second in the points classification. He finished third in two stages. In the Vuelta, he won two stages. This was his first ProTour win in 2006. At the World Championship in Salzburg, he finished second. This was his third time on the podium at the World Championships.
In 2007, he won two stages in the Bayern Rundfahrt. He also won one stage in the Tour de Suisse. He was again the team captain for the Tour de France. He wore the green jersey for one day. He was second twice and third once in stages. He finished third in the final points classification. In July, he won a stage in the Deutschland Tour. This was his 13th stage win there. He won the race's points classification for the seventh time. In September, he won the seventh stage in the Tour of Spain. This brought his total Vuelta stage wins to eight.
In 2008, he won one race, a stage in the Tour of Valencia. This was early in the season. In his last Tour de France, at age 38, he was third in the final points classification. In September 2008, Zabel announced he would retire the next month. He had been a professional cyclist for 16 years. He had 209 professional road victories. In December 2008, he joined the Columbia team as an advisor. He worked with riders like Mark Cavendish and André Greipel.
Erik Zabel's Major Wins
Erik Zabel had many important wins throughout his career. Here are some of his biggest achievements:
- Tour de France: He won the green jersey (points classification) six times in a row (1996-2001). He also won 12 individual stages.
- Vuelta a España: He won the points classification three times (2002, 2003, 2004). He also won 8 individual stages.
- Milan–San Remo: He won this famous classic race four times (1997, 1998, 2000, 2001).
- Paris–Tours: He won this classic race three times (1994, 2003, 2005).
- Other Big Wins: He also won the Amstel Gold Race (2000), HEW Cyclassics (2001), and Eschborn–Frankfurt three times (1999, 2002, 2005). He was also the German National Road Race Champion twice (1998, 2003).
Images for kids
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Zabel (left) applauding for Frank Seeland
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Zabel during Paris–Tours 2002
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Zabel in the national road championship, 2004
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Zabel at prologue of the Tour de France 2006 in Strasbourg
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Zabel in 2009
