Mikael Rasmussen (born June 1, 1974 ) is a former Danish professional road racing cyclist , winner of the pea jersey of the best mountain racer at the Tour de France 2005 and 2006, winner of four rounds of the Big Loop. In 2007, it was withdrawn by its Rabobank team due to doping charges from the 17th stage of the Tour De France , when it wore a yellow jersey of the leader of the race. The contract with him was terminated and the driver received a two-year suspension for lying when informing WADA about his whereabouts. In 2013, he recognized the use of illegal drugs.
 Michael Rasmussen | |||
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| Dates Michael Rasmussen | |||
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| Nickname | Chicken dates. Kyllingen | ||
| Citizenship |  Denmark | ||
| Date of Birth | June 1, 1974 (aged 45) | ||
| Place of Birth | Tollose | ||
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| Current team | Finished his career | ||
| Specialization | Mountain racer | ||
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The Danish nickname “Kyllingen” is translated into Russian as “Chicken,” which Mikael received while he was doing the mountain bike , Rasmussen’s teammates watched the children's TV show “Bamses Billedbog” about the bear and the chicken. The mechanics of the team were called "Bear", the Danish cyclist - "Chicken" because of his lean body and light yellow hair.
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Professional career
Michael Rasmussen began his professional sports career in 1995 as a mountain biker. In 1999, he won the World Championship in this category, but two years later he decided to switch to road cycling. So, in 2001, he became a trainee in the Danish team CSC-World Online , led by the 1996 Tour de France champion Bjarne Riis . He spends the 2002 season already as a full-fledged rider of the Danish team. After winning the 4th stage of the Burgos Tour, he signs a contract with the Dutch team Rabobank .
The first season in this team was marked by seventh place in the general classification of the Spanish Vuelta and victory at the first mountain stage of this super-day [1] .
In 2004, Mikael was first declared on the Tour de France team, where he was active and even opposed Richard Viranc in a dispute over the top mountain racer's T-shirt. Having failed, and having stopped in this classification in third place, Michael decided to make his goal for the next year the conquest of a pea T-shirt.
By focusing the season's goal on the Tour de France 2005, Mikael did not show any impressive results until July. However, with the onset of the coveted race, he showed the best qualities of a mountain racer - at stage 7 he went ahead and won the first stage at the French super-day stage. At the same time, Rasmussen neglected intra-team subordination, which assigned him only the role of the gregari Denis Menshov . All the mountain stages the Dane kept to the leaders of the race and even before the last cutting went in third place in the general classification. However, a series of random and curious falls did not allow him to take a place on the final podium in Paris . But the long-awaited pea shirt - the attire of the best mountain racer Michael Rasmussen obeyed. In this classification, he went around 30 points Spaniard Oscar Pereiro .
A year later, at the Tour de France, Rasmussen began to act in the same vein that brought him success. Although the leader of the team was Denis Menshov, the Dane got freedom of action and tried to collect as many mountain points as possible. He won stage 16 and a souvenir by Andre Degrange, who received the conqueror of the highest point of the Great Loop. On the Champs Elysees, Michael for the second time in his career put on a pea T-shirt.
Tour de France 2007 started in London . Already at the first mountain stage [2] Mikael left the gap, and in a brilliant style won the stage with a finish in Tignes and received a yellow jersey of the leader of the race. At a good level, he spent all the key stages in the rivalry with Alberto Contador and won the last mountain stage of the Tour with a finish in Col d'Obisc. Until the end of the super-day there was only a race with a separate start and the margin of advantage of the Dane was more than 3 minutes over the Spaniard, who at that time was also not a specialist in such races. However, on July 26, 2007, Rasmussen was removed from the race by the leadership of his own team. Reasons: testimony of Italian RAI commentator David Cassani, who claimed to have seen the Dane in the Dolomites in June, while he was supposed to be in Mexico.
The Dane was later disqualified for two years. After returning, the rider could not find a good team in the world tour. He played for the little-known Miche and Christina Watches-Onfone. However, he did not gain special laurels.
On January 31, 2013, the Dane admitted [3] to use doping throughout his career as a professional racer and was disqualified again by 8 years, later the period of disqualification was reduced to two years [4] .
Grand Tour Performances
| Race | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jiro | 45 | - | - | Gathering | Gathering | 48 |
| Tour de France | - | - | 14 | 7 | 17 | Gathering |
| Vuelta | - | 7 | - | - | Gathering | - |
Interesting Facts
Michael is very scrupulous about his weight during races. His weight in combat condition was about 60 kilograms. The Dane never wore Livestrong bracelets or dyed his bike - because those extra grams could hinder him in grief. His bike weighed only 10 grams more than the minimum limit set by the International Union of Cyclists .
Personal life
Michael's wife is Mexican Caritz. November 29, 2005 in their family a son was born, who was named Milo.
Notes
Links
- Official site
- Rasmussen, Michael on Cycling Archives