Michael Blaudzun is a Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 former professional road bicycle racer. Michael is the son of 1972 Summer Olympics

1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....

 track cycling bronze medalist Verner Blaudzun

Verner Blaudzun

Verner Blaudzun is a former Danish cyclist who represented Denmark at the Summer Olympics. He won the bronze medal in the men's team time trial at the 1976 Montreal Olympics held in Canada, alongside Gert Frank, Jørgen Hansen and Jørn Lund.He came fourth in the same even at the 1968 Olympics, and...

 and a strong individual time trial

Individual time trial

An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

 rider who has won the Danish national championship in that discipline in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

After Michael Blaudzun won the 1994 Danish Road Racing Championship while riding for amateur team Herning CK

Herning CK

Herning Cykle Klub is an amateur road bicycle racing club, located in Herning, Denmark, and founded April 11, 1937 on initiative by E.V.Johansen, with Poul Schmidt as chairman....

, he was signed for the remainder of the 1994 season as a stagiaire at professional team Word Perfect

Rabobank (cycling)

Rabobank is a professional bicycle racing team, sponsored by the Rabobank. The team consists of three sections: ProTeam , Continental , and Cyclo-cross...

. For the 1995 season, the Word Perfect team changed its name to Novell, and Michael Blaudzun turned professional for the outfit, riding for the team until 1997, by which time the team had once again changed its name to Rabobank. Blaudzun had a few wins in his time at Rabobank, but when he switched to German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 outfit Team Telekom in 1998, he only managed a handful of secondary finishes.

For the 1999 season, he switched to Danish Team home - Jack & Jones

Team CSC

Team Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...

 (later named Team CSC) based on his former team Herning CK. Blaudzun participated in the first ever Tour de France

Tour de France

The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

 for Team CSC, in the 2000 edition

2000 Tour de France

The 2000 Tour de France was the 87th Tour de France, and took place from July 1 to July 23, 2000. It was won by American cyclist Lance Armstrong. The Tour started with an individual time trial in Futuroscope and ended traditionally in Paris. The distance travelled was 3662.5 km...

, but he quit the race at the 12h stage. He would ride a further two editions of the Tour de France in 2001 and 2003.

Career highlights

1994

National Road Racing Champion

1996

PostGirot Open

Stage 5B, Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt

Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt

The International Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt is a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Since 2005 it is part of the UCI Europe Tour, being organised as 2.1 race.In its early years, it was an amateur race...

1999

Stage 13 and Overall, Herald Sun Tour

Herald Sun Tour

The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale . The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six day event and it is held annually in October. It is named after the Herald Sun, Melbourne's...

Prologue, Region Stuttgart Etappenrennen

2001

National Time Trial

Individual time trial

An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

 Champion

Hessen Rundfahrt

84th Overall, 2001 Tour de France

2001 Tour de France

The 2001 Tour de France was particularly difficult, having contained a 67-km long team time trial, two individual time trials and five mountain-top finishes on consecutive days, the second of which being the Chamrousse special category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were...

2003

National Time Trial Champion

45th Overall, 2003 Tour de France

2003 Tour de France

The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,427.5 km , proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages...

2004

National Road Racing Champion

2005

GP Herning

GP Herning

GP Herning is a bicycle race held in Herning , Denmark. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.- Palmarès :-External links:*...

National Time Trial Champion

2nd overall, 2005 Tour of Britain

External links

• Profile at Team CSC