 Steels in 2008 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Tom Steels |
| Nickname | Tom Bidon |
| Born | 2 September 1971 Sint-Gillis-Waas, Belgium |
| Height | 1.79 m (5 ft 10+1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb; 11 st 7 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider (retired) |
| Rider type | Sprinter |
| Professional teams | |
| 1994–1995 | Vlaanderen 2002 |
| 1996–2002 | Mapei |
| 2003–2004 | Landbouwkrediet–Colnago |
| 2005–2007 | Davitamon–Lotto |
| 2008 | Landbouwkrediet–Tönissteiner |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
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.
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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]
- ^ "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.