Tom Steels
1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in)
- Tour de France
- 9 individual stages (1998–2000)
- Vuelta a España
- 2 individual stages (1996)
One-day races and Classics
- National Road Race Championships (1997, 1998, 2002, 2004)
- Gent–Wevelgem (1996, 1999)
- Dwars door België (1998)
- Omloop Het Volk (1996)
- Nationale Sluitingsprijs (1995)
Tom Steels (born 2 September 1971) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, specialising in sprint finishes and one-day races. He was one of the top sprinters in the peloton.
Steels competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, in the Men's 1000 metres Time Trial, finishing 19th.[1]
Steels began his professional cycling career in 1994 with the Vlaanderen 2002 team, winning eight times in his first two seasons. His breakthrough was after he signed with Mapei in 1996. That year he won Omloop Het Volk, and Gent–Wevelgem. In 1997, he rode in his first Tour de France, and looked capable of a stage win after coming second on Stage 2.[2] However, during the sprint for the finish for the sixth stage he found himself blocked and boxed in by other sprinters and in frustration threw his water bottle at another rider, an offence for which he was disqualified from that year's Tour.[3] As a result, he earned the nickname "Tom Bidon".[4]
His best season was 1998 when he won the national championship for the second time and returned to the Tour de France to win four stages. The points jersey would also have been his, as the people in front of him all admitted to doping. Steels won five more stages in the 1999 and 2000 Tour de France. He was also national champion in 2002 and 2004 which made him the record holder of Belgian road championships. 2006 was his first year as a professional that he failed to win a race.
Steels retired from racing at the end of the 2008 season, during which he raced for Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner.[5][6] In October 2010 he started as a coach for Quick Step, a Protour team, during 2011.[7]
He is the uncle of fellow racing cyclist Stijn Steels.[8]
Major results
- 1994
- 1st Stage 10 Tour de l'Avenir
- GP Zele
- 3rd Grand Prix Rik Van Steenbergen
- 1995
- 1st Grote 1-MeiPrijs
- 1st Grand Prix Rik Van Steenbergen
- 1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs
- 1st Dwars door ’t Pajottenland
- 1st Stage 6 K-Mart West-Virginia Mountain Classic
- 1st Stage 5 Tour of the Netherlands
- 2nd Dwars door België
- 2nd Belgian National Road Race Championships
- 5th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
- 6th Lancaster Classic
- 8th Le Samyn
- 9th Overall Tour de l'Oise
- 10th Reading Classic
- 10th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
- 1996
- 1st Omloop Het Volk
- 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- 1st De Kustpijl
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Stages 4 & 22
- 1st Stage 2 Tour Méditerranéen
- 1st Stage 5 Volta a Galicia
- 1st Criterium Aalst
- 2nd Scheldeprijs
- 2nd Rund um Köln
- 2nd Paris–Tours
- 3rd Binche-Tournai-Binche
- 5th Belgian National Road Race Championships
- 9th Grand Prix Cholet-Pays de la Loire
- 1997
- 1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
- 1st Trofeo Calvià
- 1st Schaal Sels
- Paris–Nice
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1, 2, 4 & 7
- Tour de Wallonie
- 1st Stages 4 & 5
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
- 1st Stage 7 Tour de Suisse
- 2nd Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
- 3rd Trofeo Manacor
- 6th Trofeo Alcúdia
- 10th Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
- 1998
- 1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
- 1st Trofeo Sóller
- 1st Trofeo Calvià
- 1st Dwars door België
- Vuelta a Andalucía
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 2 & 5
- Paris–Nice
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 3 & 4
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 1, 12, 18 & 21
- 3rd Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
- 6th Omloop Mandel
- 7th Trofeo Manacor
- 10th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
- 1999
- 1st Gent–Wevelgem
- Vuelta a Andalucía
- 1st Stages 1 & 5
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 2, 3 & 17
- 1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 1 Driedaagse van de Panne
- 2nd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
- 3rd Trofeo Alcúdia
- 3rd Omloop Het Volk
- 3rd Paris–Roubaix
- 4th Dwars door België
- 4th Omloop Mandel
- 5th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
- 6th Trofeo Luis Puig
- 6th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Leif Hoste)
- 2000
- Tour de France
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- Tour de Wallonie
- 1st Stages 2 & 6
- 1st Stage 4 Tour Méditerranéen
- 1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 2 Driedaagse van de Panne
- 4th Belgian National Road Race Championships
- 6th Omloop Het Volk
- 9th Scheldeprijs
- 2001
- Tour of Sweden
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- 1st Stage 1 Deutschland Tour
- 3rd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
- 7th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
- 2002
- 1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
- 1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk
- 1st Stage 6 Volta a Catalunya
- 2nd Trofeo Alcúdia
- 2nd Scheldeprijs
- 4th Trofeo Cala Millor
- 6th Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
- 8th Schaal Sels
- 2003
- Tour of Belgium
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st Stage 3 Étoile de Bessèges
- 1st Stage 7 Tour of Austria
- 1st Heusden criterium
- 9th Nokere Koerse
- 2004
- 1st Belgian National Road Race Championships
- Tour of Austria
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1 & 3
- 1st Stage 1 Étoile de Bessèges
- 1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg
- 1st St Niklaas criterium
- 6th Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
- 9th Châteauroux Classic
- 2005
- Étoile de Bessèges
- 1st Stages 2 & 4
- 1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
- 1st Stage 3a Driedaagse van de Panne
- 2nd St Niklaas criterium
- 7th Gent–Wevelgem
- 2006
- 9th Paris–Tours
- 9th Nationale Sluitingsprijs
- 2007
- 9th Eindhoven Team Time Trial
- 2008
- 2nd St Niklaas criterium
References
- ^ "Tom Steels Biography and Olympic Results". Sports-reference.com. 2 September 1971. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ "Tour de France, July 5-25 1997". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ "Tour de France 1997". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ Birnie, Lionel (2 July 2010). "Tom Steels on Mark Cavendish: 'He's the man to beat'". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
- ^ Bjorn Haake. "Tom Steels Will Call It Quits Next Year". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ "Tom Steels | Riders". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ Barry Ryan. "Steels To Join Quick Step As Trainer". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
- ^ Haake, Bjorn (2 February 2015). "Steels with home advantage on Gent track". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
External links
- Tom Steels at UCI
- Tom Steels at Cycling Archives
- Tom Steels at ProCyclingStats
- Tom Steels at Cycling Quotient
- Tom Steels at Olympedia
- Tom Steels at trap-friis.dk
- v
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- e
- Léon Houa (1894)
- Henri Luyten (1895–1896)
- Henri Bertrand (1897–1898)
- Jules Degeetere (1899)
- Mathieu Quoidbach (1900)
- Paul Burger (1901)
- Jules Defrance (1902)
- Arthur Vanderstuyft (1903)
- Jules Sales (1904)
- Dieudonné Jamar (1905)
- Francois Verstraeten (1907–1908)
- Cyrille van Hauwaert (1909)
- Henri Hanlet (1910)
- Odile Defraye (1911)
- Omer Verschoore (1912)
- Joseph Van Daele (1913)
- Victor Dethier (1914)
- Jean Rossius (1919)
- Jules Vanhevel (1920–1921)
- René Vermandel (1922)
- Félix Sellier (1923)
- René Vermandel (1924)
- Gerard Debaets (1925)
- Félix Sellier (1926)
- August Mortelmans (1927)
- Joseph Dervaes (1928)
- Joseph Wauters (1929–1930)
- Alphonse Schepers (1931)
- Georges Lemaire (1932)
- Louis Duerloo (1933)
- Louis Roels (1934)
- Gustave Danneels (1935)
- Jean Aerts (1936)
- Karel Kaers (1937)
- Petrus Van Theemsche (1938)
- Marcel Kint (1939)
- Odiel Van Den Meersschaut (1940)
- André Defoort (1941)
- André Maelbrancke (1942)
- Rik Van Steenbergen (1943, 1945)
- Émile Masson Jr. (1946–1947)
- Achiel Buysse (1948)
- Valère Ollivier (1949)
- Albert Ramon (1950)
- Lode Anthonis (1951)
- Jozef Schils (1952)
- Alois Vansteenkiste (1953)
- Rik Van Steenbergen (1954)
- Emiel Van Cauter (1955)
- André Vlayen (1956–1957)
- Rik Van Looy (1958)
- Petrus Oellibrandt (1959)
- Frans De Mulder (1960)
- Michel Van Aerde (1961)
- Jef Planckaert (1962)
- Rik Van Looy (1963)
- Edward Sels (1964)
- Walter Godefroot (1965)
- Guido Reybrouck (1966)
- Jozef Boons (1967)
- Julien Stevens (1968)
- Roger De Vlaeminck (1969)
- Eddy Merckx (1970)
- Herman Van Springel (1971)
- Walter Godefroot (1972)
- Frans Verbeeck (1973)
- Roger Swerts (1974)
- Willy Teirlinck (1975)
- Freddy Maertens (1976)
- Michel Pollentier (1977–1978)
- Gery Verlinden (1979)
- Jos Jacobs (1980)
- Roger De Vlaeminck (1981)
- Frank Hoste (1982)
- Lucien Van Impe (1983)
- Eric Vanderaerden (1984)
- Paul Haghedooren (1985)
- Marc Sergeant (1986)
- Ferdi Van Den Haute (1987)
- Etienne De Wilde (1988)
- Carlo Bomans (1989)
- Claude Criquielion (1990)
- Benjamin Van Itterbeeck (1991)
- Johan Museeuw (1992)
- Alain Van Den Bossche (1993)
- Wilfried Nelissen (1994–1995)
- Johan Museeuw (1996)
- Tom Steels (1997–1998)
- Ludo Dierckxsens (1999)
- Axel Merckx (2000)
- Ludovic Capelle (2001)
- Tom Steels (2002)
- Geert Omloop (2003)
- Tom Steels (2004)
- Serge Baguet (2005)
- Niko Eeckhout (2006)
- Stijn Devolder (2007)
- Jürgen Roelandts (2008)
- Tom Boonen (2009)
- Stijn Devolder (2010)
- Philippe Gilbert (2011)
- Tom Boonen (2012)
- Stijn Devolder (2013)
- Jens Debusschere (2014)
- Preben Van Hecke (2015)
- Philippe Gilbert (2016)
- Oliver Naesen (2017)
- Yves Lampaert (2018)
- Tim Merlier (2019)
- Dries De Bondt (2020)
- Wout van Aert (2021)
- Tim Merlier (2022)
- Remco Evenepoel (2023)