Rolf Sørensen
Encyclopedia
Rolf Sørensen is a former Danish
professional road bicycle racer. He is the most successful Danish bicycle racer ever, with his 53 victories over 17 seasons. He is currently working as a cycling commentator
and agent
. Born in Helsinge
in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy
at the age of 17, where he has lived since. He was a client of Francesco Conconi
and Luigi Cecchini
. He goes under the name Il Biondo due to his blonde hair. He is married to Susanne.
(twice), and the Rund um den Henninger Turm or Grand Prix Frankfurt. He has led the UCI Road World Cup on several occasions, finishing third in 1989 and 1991 and second in 1997 after a broken foot kept him from scoring points in the last two World Cup races of the season.
Sørensen also won individual stages in the 1994
and 1996 Tour de France
, and wore the yellow jersey
as the leader of the race after the team time trial in 1991, won by his Italian team Ariostea. He kept it until he broke his collar bone in a fall four days later.
Rolf Sørensen participated in the Tour seven times, the last in 2001. He has also won a number of stages in other stage races, among them stage 9 of the 1995 Giro d'Italia
, three stages in the Vuelta al País Vasco, six stages in Tirreno–Adriatico, two in the Tour de Suisse
, and two in the Tour de Romandie
.
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
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...
professional road bicycle racer. He is the most successful Danish bicycle racer ever, with his 53 victories over 17 seasons. He is currently working as a cycling commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
and agent
Sports agent
A sports agent procures and negotiates employment and endorsement contracts for an athlete.In return, the sports agent generally receives between 4 and 10% of the athlete's playing contract, and 10 to 20% of the athlete's endorsement contract, though these figures vary...
. Born in Helsinge
Helsinge
Until 1 January 2007, Helsinge was a municipality in Frederiksborg County on the north coast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. It had a total population of 19,473 , but in the summer months the population grew to over 36.000 people. Its last mayor was Claus Lange, a member of the...
in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
at the age of 17, where he has lived since. He was a client of Francesco Conconi
Francesco Conconi
Francesco Conconi is an Italian sports doctor and scientist, with disciples such as Michele Ferrari and Luigi Cecchini. Conconi is a Professor at the University of Ferrara in Italy where he heads the Centro Studi Biomedici Applicati allo Sport or Biomedical Research Institute...
and Luigi Cecchini
Luigi Cecchini
Luigi Cecchini is an Italian sports doctor that is active in road bicycle racing. He is well known as maker of training schemes that he writes for his clients as well as use of the SRM cycle computer....
. He goes under the name Il Biondo due to his blonde hair. He is married to Susanne.
Accomplishments
Sørensen was Denmark's most prolific rider by far, winning such classic one-day races as the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Paris–Brussels, Paris–Tours and Milan-Turin, as well as slightly smaller races like the Coppa BernocchiCoppa Bernocchi
The Coppa Bernocchi is an European bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour....
(twice), and the Rund um den Henninger Turm or Grand Prix Frankfurt. He has led the UCI Road World Cup on several occasions, finishing third in 1989 and 1991 and second in 1997 after a broken foot kept him from scoring points in the last two World Cup races of the season.
Sørensen also won individual stages in the 1994
1994 Tour de France
The 1994 Tour de France was the 81st Tour de France and included two stages in England , Stage 4, Dover to Brighton and Stage 5, around Portsmouth. It took place July 2 to July 24, 1994...
and 1996 Tour de France
1996 Tour de France
The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....
, and wore the yellow jersey
Yellow jersey
The general classification in the Tour de France is the most important classification, the one by which the winner of the Tour de France is determined. Since 1919, the leader of the general classification wears the yellow jersey .-History:...
as the leader of the race after the team time trial in 1991, won by his Italian team Ariostea. He kept it until he broke his collar bone in a fall four days later.
Rolf Sørensen participated in the Tour seven times, the last in 2001. He has also won a number of stages in other stage races, among them stage 9 of the 1995 Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
, three stages in the Vuelta al País Vasco, six stages in Tirreno–Adriatico, two in the Tour de Suisse
Tour de Suisse
The Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
, and two in the Tour de Romandie
Tour de Romandie
The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
.
Palmares
1986- 1st Point Classifications Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...
1987
- 1st Overall, Tirreno–Adriatico
- 2nd Overall, Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...
- 1st Youth Classifications
1988
- 2nd Züri-Metzgete
- 2nd Overall, Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...
- 1st Youth Classifications
- 1st Point Classifications
1989
- 3rd Gent–Wevelgem
1990
- 1st Paris–Tours
1991
- Maillot Jaune
Stage 2-5, Tour de France1991 Tour de FranceThe 1991 Tour de France was the 78th Tour de France, taking place July 6 to July 28, 1991. The total race distance was 22 stages over 3914 km, with riders averaging 38.747 km/h.-Stages:-General classification:-External links:* *... - 2nd Milan – San Remo
- 3rd Ronde Van Vlaanderen
- 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 3rd UCI Road World Cup1991 UCI Road World CupThe 1991 UCI Road World Cup was the third edition of the UCI Road World Cup. From the 1990 edition, the same events were retained, with the individual time trial finale event this year in Bergamo, Italy, ran as both the Grand Prix des Nations and the Trofeo Baracchi...
1992
- 1st Overall, Tirreno–Adriatico
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st Paris–Brussels
1993
- 1st Milano–Torino
- 1st Rund um den Henninger Turm
- 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 1st Stage 7, Tirreno–Adriatico
- 1st Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 6, Tour de RomandieTour de RomandieThe Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs in the Romandie region, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. It began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling....
1994
- 19th Overall, Tour de France1994 Tour de FranceThe 1994 Tour de France was the 81st Tour de France and included two stages in England , Stage 4, Dover to Brighton and Stage 5, around Portsmouth. It took place July 2 to July 24, 1994...
- 1st Stage 14
- 1st Paris–Brussels
1995
- 1st Stage 9, Giro d'Italia1995 Giro d'ItaliaThe 1995 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 78th edition of the race, was held from 13 May to 4 June 1995, consisting of 22 stages. It covered a total of 3,736 km, completed at an average speed of 38,26 km/h...
- 2nd Milano–Torino
1996
- 28th Overall, Tour de France1996 Tour de FranceThe 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....
- 1st Stage 13
- 1st Overall, Ronde van NederlandRonde van NederlandThe Ronde van Nederland is a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005 the tour was replaced by the Eneco Tour of Benelux....
- 1st Stage 4
- 1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
- 1st Stage 6, Tirreno–Adriatico
- 2nd Overall, Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...
Summer Olympics Road RaceCycling at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's road raceThese are the official results of the Men's Individual Road Race at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, held on July 31, 1996. There were 184 participants in the race over 221.85 km, with 116 cyclists actually finishing....
1997
- 1st Ronde van Vlaanderen
- 1st Stage 1, Tirreno–Adriatico
- 3rd Züri-Metzgete
- 2nd UCI Road World Cup
1998
- 1st Overall, Ronde van NederlandRonde van NederlandThe Ronde van Nederland is a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005 the tour was replaced by the Eneco Tour of Benelux....
- 2nd Overall, Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...
- 1st Stage 5, Tirreno–Adriatico
1999
- 2nd Overall, Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...
2000
- 1st Overall, Danmark RundtDanmark RundtDanmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...