Erik Zabel

Erik Zabel was a German cyclist who turned professional in 1992 and became one of the great road sprinters in the peloton. He has won over 200 races on the professional calendar, more than any rider of his era. At the grand tours, he won the points classification nine times, then a record, winning the Tour de France green jersey in 1995-97 and 2000-02, and setting a record for the Tour with six points victories. He also won the Vuelta à España points classification in 2002-04. He won 41 stages at the Tour, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta – 12 in the Tour, 21 at the Giro, and 8 at the Vuelta, which ranked him sixth all-time.

Zabel never managed to win the World Championship road race, but was on the podium three times – silver in 2004 and 2006, and bronze in 2002. In one-day classics, Zabel is most notable for winning at Milano-San Remo four times, in 1997-98 and 2000-01. He also won the Amstel Gold Race in 2000 and Paris-Tours in 1994, 2003, and 2005. He was also successful at the UCI World Cup in 2000. In the winter Zabel frequently raced indoors, winning 14 different six-day races between 1995-2009.

In 2007 Zabel tearfully admitted to having tried EPO on the 1996 tour, but quickly stopped using it. In 2013, however, he was also found to have doped with EPO on the 1998 Tour. He then admitted years of doping with EPO, cortisone, and blood doping between 1996 and 2004. He had already retired, however, so there were no consequences. In 2001 he was voted Sportsman of the Year.

His father Detlef and his son Rick were also professional cyclists. Until 2013, Erik Zabel worked with several pro cycling teams to came back only in 2018 with the team of his son Rick. He also stayed in the cycling business as a corresponding consultant.