| Stuart O'grady |
Article Index for Stuart |
Website Links For Stuart |
Information AboutStuart O'grady |
|
Stuart O'Grady is an Australian Cyclist , born on 6 August , 1973 in Adelaide , South Australia . OLYMPICS O'Grady successfully teamed with Graeme Brown to win a Gold Medal with 22 points in the Madison Cycling event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens . (See Cycling At The 2004 Summer Olympics ) He has attended the three previous Olympics representing Australia :
PROFESSIONAL CAREER O'Grady has participated in the Tour De France since 1998 , racing for the Crédit Agricole /GAN team 1998-2003, the Cofidis team in 2004, and now he is riding with team CSC. He has worn the yellow jersey of the race leader in 1998 and 2001. In 2001 he was in contention for the sprinters green jersey in competition with Erik Zabel from Germany, but was defeated on the final day's racing on points on the streets of Paris . He was again in contention in 2002. In 2003 and 2004 he has been overshadowed in this competition by fellow Australian sprinters Robbie McEwen (2004) and Baden Cooke (2003). In 1998 he was second overall in the Green jersey sprinters classification. In the 2005 Tour De France O'Grady came second in the Sprinters ' Green Jersey Points classification to Thor Hushovd of Norway, closely followed by Robbie McEwen in 3rd place. Tour De France Career Highlights include:
OTHER CYCLING HIGHLIGHTS
BIOGRAPHY Born into a cycling family, Stuart O'Grady's father represented South Australia several times in road and track cycling and his uncle competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for Australia. Nicknamed ''Stuey'', he started his career in track cycling and most notably won a Silver Medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona in the Men's Team Pursuit (4000m), and in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta he won a Bronze Medal in the Men's Point Race, and a Bronze Medal in the Men's Team Pursuit (4000m). When it was time to turn professional, he joined the GAN team (now Crédit Agricole), which at the time included British time-trial specialist Chris Boardman . "I talked to Motorola, Polti and GAN, and everybody was pushing me towards Polti. Then one day I saw (Chris) Boardman being helped by a GAN mechanic and soigneur but didn't see any Polti mechanics or Motorola staff around at all. It really wasn't a hard decision after that." he commented on his choice of team. Stuart O'Grady was named Australian Cyclist of the Year and '''Australian Male Road Cyclist of the Year''' in 1998 and 2001 . In the 1998 Tour De France he was in the Yellow Jersey for three days, and again in 2001 for five days. He has won several stages in the Tour De France , the last one being the fifth stage of the 2004 Tour De France. In 2001 he was diagnosed with a block artery, after early tests established that his right leg produced more power than his left leg. After a surgery in the April of 2002 he started a new rehabilitation program to get back into racing form by the summer. O'Grady moved to the Cofidis team in 2004 , intending to put some emphasis on the Spring Classics races such as Paris-Roubaix and Ronde Van Vlaanderen . After a near-disastrous start to the season fraught with injuries and doping allegations in his team, he made a comeback by winning two stages in the Dauphiné Libéré race and winning the points classification in the same race. He continued with a stage win in the Tour de France, a few days in the green jersey, and a victory in the World Cup Race HEW Cyclassics. He topped his list of victories by winning an olympic gold medal in the Madison Cycling with Graeme Brown. Late 2005 he signed a one-year contract with Bjarne Riis to ride on Team CSC for 2006 . Stuart is a supporter of the Port Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League and is currently the number 1 ticket holder. EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|