Jurgen Van Den Broeck
 Van Den Broeck in 2007 |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jurgen Van Den Broeck | ||
| Nickname | VDBke, JVDB | ||
| Born | 1 February 1983 Herentals, Belgium |
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| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 69 kg (150 lb) | ||
| Team information | |||
| Current team | Lotto-Belisol | ||
| Discipline | Road | ||
| Role | Climber | ||
| Rider type | GC Contender | ||
| Professional team(s) | |||
| 2004–2006 2006– |
US Postal Davitamon-Lotto |
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| Major wins | |||
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| Infobox last updated on 18 January 2012 |
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Jurgen Van Den Broeck (born 1 February 1983 in Herentals) is a Belgian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam Lotto-Belisol. He specializes in the time trial, having been Junior World Champion against the clock in 2001. The promise he first displayed in minor stage races like the Tour de Romandie and Eneco Tour was later validated and confirmed by top-10 finishes in all three Grand Tours: the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
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[edit] Cycling Career
Van Den Broeck won the junior world time trial championship in 2001 and made his pro debut in 2003 as a stagiaire for the Quick Step-Davitamon-Latexco team. Rather than remaining in Belgium, however, he signed with the American US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor squad of Lance Armstrong for his first full season as a professional in 2004. His only result of note that year was 6th-place overall in the Tour of Belgium.
Van Den Broeck remained with Johan Bruyneel's team in 2005 when Discovery Channel took over the title sponsorship, and he continued with the Americans in 2006 after Armstrong retired. During that period he finished on the podium in stages of the Deutschland Tour and the Tour of Belgium (where he also won the KOM classification), and he rode to a top-20 finish overall in the Tour de Romandie. In June, however, Van Den Broeck announced his intention to return to Belgium when he agreed to a two-year contract with the then-Davitamon squad, which would be re-branded in 2007 as Predictor-Lotto. The following month Van Den Broeck scored his first win as a professional, taking the Schriek, Derny in Belgium ahead of Erwin Vervecken and future cyclocross world champion Niels Albert.[1] (Previous winners included Nick Nuyens, Dave Brulandts, Jo Planckaert and Sven Nys).[2]
Still only 24 years old, Van Den Broeck managed to finish in the top-10 on GC at the 2007 Eneco Tour with his new team, though he also won the bronze medal in the Belgian national time trial championship.[3] After completing his first Grand Tour in an anonymous 74th place at the 2007 Giro d'Italia, Van Den Broeck finally showed that he had talent as a stage racer when he returned to Italy the following year and came seventh overall in the 2008 Giro d'Italia.
Showing excellent form in the 2009 Tour de France, Van Den Broeck climbed with the leaders through the Alps. And although he had crashed heavily on the 4th stage, and lost more than six minutes, his consistency resulted in 15th place in the GC ranking and 9th place in the competition for the polka dot jersey. As the performances came at the end of Cadel Evans tenure at Silence-Lotto, the Belgian outfit decided that van Den Broeck was capable and reliable enough to become their GC leader.
Thus, the following season he rode to an important and still somewhat surprising 5th place in the 2010 Tour de France, becoming the first Belgian to finish in the top 5 since Claude Criquielion in 1986. After the Tour Van Den Broeck won two criteriums: one in Peer and the other in his hometown of Herentals.
In the 2011 Tour de France, after an encouraging first week and while aiming for a GC podium spot, Van Den Broeck had to abandon the race along with another GC-hopeful, Alexander Vinokourov, after a massive and spectacularly grim downhill crash which left him with a pneumothorax, broken ribs and a fractured shoulder.[4] Not to be deterred, however, Van Den Broeck recovered from his injuries in time to compete in the 2011 Vuelta a España, where he finished 8th in GC.
[edit] Major achievements
- 2001
World Junior Time Trial Champion- 2002
- 1st Overall, Tour of Limburg
- 2003
- 2nd, Belgian National Time Trial Championships
- 2004
- 6th Overall, Tour of Belgium
- 2005
- 8th Overall, Eneco Tour
- 2007
- 3rd Belgian National Time Trial Championships
- 2008
- 7th Overall, Giro d'Italia
- 2009
- 1st, Natourcriterium Herentals
- 2010
- 4th Overall, Critérium du Dauphiné
- 5th Overall, 2010 Tour de France
- 2011
- 2nd Overall, Vuelta a Andalucía
- 4th Overall, Critérium du Dauphiné
- 1st Stage 1, Critérium du Dauphiné
- 5th Stage 1, Tour de France
- 8th Overall, Vuelta a España
[edit] Grand Tour General Classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro |
74 | 7 | - | - | - |
 Tour |
- | - | 15 | 5 | WD |
 Vuelta |
- | - | - | - | 8 |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.cyclingarchives.com/ritfiche.php?ritid=71805
- ^ http://www.cyclingarchives.com/wedstrijdfiche.php?wedstrijdid=3453
- ^ http://www.cyclingarchives.com/coureurfiche.php?coureurid=7415
- ^ "Jurgen Van den Broeck crashes out of Tour de France". deredactie.be. http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/sports/110710_VDB. Retrieved 2011-07-12.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jurgen Van den Broeck |
- Personal website
- Cycling Archives Rider Profile
- Profile at Lotto-Belisol official website
- Jurgen Van Den Broeck at Trap-Friis.dk
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