Stuart O'Grady

Stuart O'Grady

Personal information
Full name	Stuart O'Grady
Nickname	Stuey
Born	6 August 1973 (1973-08-06) Australia
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	73 kg (160 lb; 11.5 st)
Team information
Current team	GreenEDGE
Discipline	Road and track
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter/Classics Specialist
Professional team(s)
1995–2003 2004–2005 2006–2010 2011 2012–	GAN Cofidis Team CSC Leopard Trek GreenEDGE
Major wins
Tour de France, 3 stages Vuelta a España, 1 Stage TTT Paris-Roubaix (2007) HEW Cyclassics (2004) National Road Race Champion (2003) Herald Sun Tour (2008) Tour Down Under (1999, 2001) Tour of Britain (1998) World Team Pursuit Champion (1993, 1995) Olympic Madison Champion (2004)
Medal record Competitor for Australia Track cycling Olympic Games Silver Barcelona 1992 4000m Team Pursuit Bronze Atlanta 1996 4000m Team Pursuit Bronze Atlanta 1996 Points Race Gold Athens 2004 Madison Commonwealth Games Gold 1994 Victoria, BC Team Pursuit Gold 1994 Victoria, BC 10 Miles Scratch Silver 1994 Victoria, BC Points Race Bronze 1994 Victoria, BC Individual Pursuit Silver 1998 Kuala Lumpur Individual Time Trial Gold 2002 Manchester Team Pursuit Gold 2002 Manchester Road Race World Championships Gold 1993 Bogotá Team Pursuit Bronze 1994 Palermo Team Pursuit Gold 1995 Bogotá Team Pursuit Bronze 1995 Bogotá Individual Pursuit
Infobox last updated on 23 January 2012

Stuart O'Grady OAM (born 6 August 1973 in Adelaide), nicknamed Stuey, is an Australian professional road bicycle racer on UCI ProTeam GreenEDGE, who started as a track cyclist. He and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in Men's Madison at the 2004 Summer Olympics. O'Grady also won Paris–Roubaix in 2007.

O'Grady has ridden the Tour de France since 1998 and contended for the points classification in the Tour de France, finishing second in the 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2005 races. He wore the yellow jersey of general classification leader in 1998 and 2001.

In 2005, he was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport 'Best of the Best' .

Biography

Stuart O'Grady grew up as a part of a cycling family. His father represented South Australia in road and track cycling, and his uncle competed for Australia at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He started in track cycling and won a silver medal in the 4000m team pursuit at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta he won bronze medals in both the points race and team pursuit. He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

He joined the GAN professional team, which included English time trial specialist Chris Boardman. This team was later known as Crédit Agricole.

In the 1998 Tour de France he wore the yellow jersey for three days. He also won his first stage. In 2001 he wore the yellow jersey for five days. He was Australian Cyclist of the Year and Australian Male Road Cyclist of the Year in 1998 and 2001. In 1998 he finished second in the green jersey classification. On 6 July 2000, he pulled out of the Tour de France after breaking his collarbone in three places with 85 kilometres to the finish, he still finished the stage. In 2001, O'Grady had been in contention for the green jersey with Erik Zabel but he was defeated on the final day.

In 2001 he had a narrowing in the iliac artery. Tests showed his right leg produced more power than his left. After surgery in April 2002, he was again in contention in the 2002 Tour de France. In 2003 and 2004 he was overshadowed in the green jersey competition by fellow Australian sprinters Baden Cooke (2003) and Robbie McEwen (2004). O'Grady still managed to win his second Tour de France stage, in 2004.

Stuart O'Grady riding for Cofidis during the Stage 20 individual time trial of the 2005 Tour de France.

O'Grady moved to Cofidis in 2004 to concentrate on races such as Paris–Roubaix and the Ronde van Vlaanderen. After a start fraught with injuries and doping allegations in his team, he won two stages and the points classification in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. He won a stage in the 2004 Tour de France and spent a few days in the green jersey. He won the UCI Road World Cup race, HEW Cyclassics. He topped his victories by winning an Olympic gold medal in the madison cycling with Graeme Brown.

In the 2005 Tour de France, O'Grady came second in the green jersey classification to Thor Hushovd of Norway, followed by Robbie McEwen. Late in 2005, he signed a one-year contract with Bjarne Riis to ride on Team CSC, now known as Saxo Bank, for 2006. He broke several ribs in an early season race in Italy and a vertebra in the Tour de France. O'Grady continued riding the Tour despite the pain, coming third in the final stage.

Early in 2007 O'Grady became the first Australian to win a major classic when he crossed the line first in Paris–Roubaix. He had a puncture midway but recovered to rejoin the field before arriving alone in the Roubaix velodrome.

On 15 July 2007, O'Grady abandoned on stage 8 of the 2007 Tour de France, from Le-Grand-Bornand to Tignes, after crashing on a descent, fracturing eight ribs, his right shoulder blade, right collar bone and three vertebrae, and puncturing his right lung.

O'Grady crashed 30 km into the 2009 Milan – San Remo when another rider came down in front of him, he punctured his lung and suffered a broken right collar bone once again as well as a broken rib.

O'Grady set up and financially supports an Australian junior cycling development team, CSC Team O'Grady, which was established in 2005.

Stuart O'Grady is today a member of the ‘Champions for Peace’ club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by Peace and Sport, a Monaco-based international organization.

On 8 August 2011, O'Grady announced he was signing for new Australian team GreenEDGE for 2012.

Palmarès

1992

2nd 4000m Team Pursuit, Summer Olympics

1993

1st Team Pursuit, World Championships

1994

1st Team Pursuit Commonwealth Games

1st 10 Miles Scratch Commonwealth Games

2nd Points Race Commonwealth Games

3rd Individual Pursuit Commonwealth Games

1995

1st Team Pursuit, World Championships

1996

1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Murcia

3rd 4000m Team Pursuit

3rd Points Race

1997

1st Points competition, Setmana Catalana

1st Stage 1, Herald Sun Tour

1st Stage 6, Herald Sun Tour

1st Stage 8, Herald Sun Tour

1st Stage 5, Bayern-Rundfahrt

7th Gent–Wevelgem

1998

1st Stage 14 Tour De France

Held maillot jaune for 3 days from Stages 4–6

1st Overall PruTour Tour of Britain

1st Stage 2

1st Stage 7

1st Stage 2, Tour de Luxembourg

1st Stage 5, Tour du Poitou-Charentes

2nd GP Haribo

2nd Individual Time Trial Commonwealth Games

1999

1st Overall Tour Down Under

1st Stage 3

1st Stage 5

1st Haribo Classic

1st Stage 5 Prutour

2000

1st Stage 3 GP du Midi-Libre

2001

1st Overall Tour Down Under

1st Gouden Pijl Emmen

1st Stage 4 Team time trial 2001 Tour de France

Held maillot jaune from Stages 3–6 & 8–9

2002

1st Road Race, Commonwealth Games

1st Team Pursuit Commonwealth Games

2003

1st Australian National Road Race Championships

1st Stage 6 Tour de Langkawi

1st Stage 8 Tour de Langkawi

1st Overall Centenaire Classification 2003 Tour de France

3rd Overall Post Danmark Rundt

3rd Ronde van Vlaanderen

3rd Paris–Tours

2004

1st Madison Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics

1st Stage 5 2004 Tour de France

1st HEW Cyclassics

1st GP de Villers-Cotterets

1st Stage 5 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

1st Stage 1 Post Danmark Rundt

1st Wiener Radfest

3rd Milan – San Remo

2006

1st Stage 1 TTT Vuelta a España

2nd Overall Tour of Denmark

1st Points Classification

2nd Züri-Metzgete

3rd Paris–Tours

2007

1st Paris–Roubaix

3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen

4th Milano–Torino

5th Milan – San Remo

5th Overall, Tour of California

5th Omloop Het Volk

9th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen

10th Tour of Flanders

2008

1st Overall Herald Sun Tour

1st Stage 2

1st Stage 5

5th Paris–Roubaix

8th Gent–Wevelgem

2009

2nd Overall Tour Down Under

3rd Stage 2 Tour of Ireland

2011

9th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke

10th Milan – San Remo

8th Paris-Tours

See also

• List of Australians who have led the Tour de France general classification

External links

• Stuart O'Grady website
• Team CSC profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Fabian Cancellara	Winner of Paris–Roubaix 2007	Succeeded by Tom Boonen