Bauke Mollema
 Bauke Mollema on 2011 Liège-Bastogne-Liège start line |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bauke Mollema | ||
| Born | November 26, 1986 Groningen, the Netherlands |
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| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 64 kg (140 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Rabobank | ||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Rider | ||
| Rider type | Climber | ||
| Amateur team(s) | |||
| 2007 | Rabobank CT | ||
| Professional team(s) | |||
| 2008– | Rabobank | ||
| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on 5 January 2012 |
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Bauke Mollema (born November 26, 1986 in Groningen) is a Dutch professional cyclist currently riding for Rabobank. Mollema is a Climbing specialist.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early years
In 2007 Mollema won the prestigious stage race for upcoming talents Tour de l'Avenir and the Circuito Montañés. He joined Rabobank's ProTeam in 2008, signing his first contract as a professional. His first notable result was a 6th position in the final classification of the 2008 Vuelta a Castilla y León. He made his ProTour debut in the 2008 Tour de Romandie, but did not finish the race due to a fall, which resulted in a fractured collarbone. He fully returned in top shape in the 2008 Deutschland Tour, in which he started as Rabobank's team leader, eventually finishing 7th in the GC. After a disappointing spring in 2009, the season was over for Mollema due to Pfeiffer's disease.
[edit] 2010
Mollema made his Grand Tour debut in the 2010 Giro d'Italia in which he made a good impression but fell short of a top 10 classification and winning the young rider competition, partially due to missing out on a break-away of 50 riders in which a lot of direct opponents gained a 12 minutes lead. Mollema continued to ride strong later in the season with a mountain stage win in the Tour de Pologne and a third place overall after winner Daniel Martin and runner-up Grega Bole.
[edit] 2011
In the spring of 2011 he already showed good form with a ninth place overall in Paris-Nice and tenth overall in the Volta a Catalunya. He eventually did not show his good form in the Ardennes classics and rode disappointing results. The main objective of Mollema's 2011 season was his first ever Tour de France. As preparation for the Tour he rode, together with teammate Steven Kruijswijk, the Tour de Suisse. Both riders performed extremely well in a strong field. This resulted for Kruijswijk in a podium finish but Mollema fell short for the podium due to a flat tire. Due to illness his GC in the Tour de France was not a succes. In the last week he felt better and tried for a break-away. This resulted in a second place in the 17th stage after Edvald Boasson Hagen. Mollema returned to action in his third Grand Tour, the 2011 Vuelta a España. On the steep uphill finishes in stage 5 and 8 he finished in the top five. He didn't lose any crucial time in the first week and was awarded the red leaders jersey after his second place in stage 9. Due to his weaker time trial skills compared to other GC contenders as Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali he lost the leaders jersey a day after he had won it. Mollema rode extremely strong after the time trial and was heading for a podium position, but the Dutchman fell to a fourth place overall due to the performance of Juan José Cobo on the Alto de L'Angliru. Mollema eventually came onto the podium in Madrid as winner of the points classification. It was the first time since 1992 that a Dutchman won a major classification in a Grand Tour, after Eddy Bouwmans won the young rider classification in the Tour de France.
[edit] Palmarès
- 2006
- 1st Stage 2, Vuelta Ciclista a León
- 2007
- 1st Overall Tour de l'Avenir
- 1st Overall Circuito Montañés
- 1st Stage 6
- 2008
- 6th Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 7th Overall Deutschland Tour
- 2010
- 3rd Overall Tour de Pologne
- 1st, Stage 6
- 5th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 8th Giro del Piemonte
- 2011
- 2nd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
- 1st Combination classification
- 4th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st
Points Classification - Held Red Jersey Stage 9
Vuelta a España - Held White Jersey Stage 9–12
Vuelta a España
- 1st
- 5th Overall Tour de Suisse
- 9th Overall Paris-Nice
- 10th Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 2nd Giro dell'Emilia
[edit] Grand Tours overall classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro |
- | - | 12 | - |
 Tour |
- | - | - | 70 |
 Vuelta |
- | - | - | 4 |
WD=Withdrew
[edit] External links
- Rabobank website profile
- Bauke Mollema profile at Cycling Archives
- Palmares on Cycling Base (French)
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