Matti Breschel

Matti Breschel (born 31 August 1984) is a Danish retired professional road racing cyclist, who competed between 2005 and 2019 for the , , and teams.

Career Junior career Born in Ballerup, Breschel got his breakthrough with small Danish Team PH, finishing 6th at the U/23 Cycling World Championship in Verona in 2004, where he helped fellow Dane Mads Christensen finish 3rd. He also won the bronze medal at the Danish National Road Racing Championship during the summer of 2004.

Team CSC (2005–2010) 2005 He turned professional for the 2005 season in Denmark-based , where he signed a two-year contract. At the press conference, regarding his choice to join Team CSC in October 2004, he stated that he simply wished to adjust to the rigours of professional cycling, saying,"I hope to get in the team, but in the beginning I just want to learn the game and to learn the races. Somewhere I know that I'm in for a beating." Under the tutelage of seasoned veteran Lars Michaelsen, Breschel would start the season in the Tour of Qatar, where the two riders finished side by side, Breschel conceding the final victory to Michaelsen. They would ride a number of classics and smaller races together, and Breschel finished in a number of secondary placings, just missing the victory podiums.

2006 For the start of the 2006 season, he once again showed himself in the Tour of Qatar, finishing as the best young rider of the race for the second year in a row. He showed his good form in March with a third-place finish in Le Samyn, being beaten only by Philippe Gilbert in the bunch sprint of the peloton, and a few days later he sprinted his way to second place at stage 2 of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen where he was second only to world class sprinter Robbie McEwen. For the third, and last, stage of the race, Breschel would once more sprint against McEwen, with the winner taking the overall victory of the race, this time with the effect that both riders crashed. Breschel broke his vertebrae in two places, and McEwen was de-classed in the race.

2007 He came back with thunder and lightning in 2007 and came in an impressive 14th at the Paris–Roubaix, which his team-mate Stuart O'Grady won. After recovering, he won his first victory as a professional in stage 2 of Danmark Rundt in August 2007. This was the first Danish stage win in five years on this national tour.

2008 In 2008, his best season came, and he got his first big international breakthrough when he on 8 June 2008, he won the Philadelphia International Championship, also known as the Commerce Bank International Championship in Philadelphia, PA, where he outsprinted all contenders in a little bunch sprint after a long and hard race. A couple of weeks later, he went on to take another impressive victory when he won the 2nd stage of Ster Elektrotoer, a stage finishing on the feared Cauberg and also won the overall points jersey. He maintained his good form through the season and also came in 2nd in the Danish Road Racing Championship, only beaten by his teammate Nicki Sørensen. In August, he won two stages at the Tour of Denmark and also led the overall classification until the final time trial, securing him a total fifth place.

The biggest scalp came on 21 September, when he won the last stage of the Vuelta a España in Madrid, only a few days after he came in second in the 17th stage of the Vuelta a España. Only a week later, Breschel rode very impressively at the world cycling championships, finishing 3rd and getting a bronze medal.

2009 Breschel had his best cobbled classics campaign ever in 2009. He managed to finish 6th at the Tour of Flanders and 9th at the Paris-Roubaix. In June he became the Danish National Road Race Champion, and he also won stages in the Tour de Suisse, Volta a Catalunya, Tour de Luxembourg and Post Danmark Rundt. He managed to finish 2nd at the Vattenfall Cyclassics.

2010 During the 2010 season, Breschel rode well in the Cobbled Classics but suffered from bad luck. Breschel won Dwars door Vlaanderen and put in strong performances in Gent–Wevelgem and Ronde Vlaanderen, but suffered mechanical defects in both races.

Rabobank (2011–2012) He signed for for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. In the 2012 Paris–Roubaix, he was troubled by a knee injury. However, a week before that, he had finished 9th at the Tour of Flanders. He was also on the podium at the Gent-Wevelgem.

Breschel left at the end of the 2012 season, and joined the Danish team on a two-year contract from the 2013 season onwards. He rode the Tour de France but abandoned the race on stage 14 after crashing. His best results in the season were 5th at the GP du canton d'Argovie and 6th at Heistse Pijl.

Astana (2017) Breschel did not have the best year at Astana, and his best result was 12th at Dwaars door Vlaanderen, a race he had previously won in 2010.

EF Education First–Drapac (2018–2019) Breschel returned to the team after a year in colours. He finished 9th on a wet stage 5 in the Paris-Nice. At the Milan-San Remo, Breschel sprinted home in 12th position.

He announced his retirement on 18 August 2019, effective from the end of the season, due to psoriatic arthritis.

Major results

2001 National Junior Road Championships

3rd Time trial 2003 6th Fyen Rundt 2004 1st Giro del Canavese 1st Stage 3 Circuit des Ardennes 1st Stage 2 Ringerike GP 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 6th Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships 6th Paris–Roubaix Espoirs 10th Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux 2005 2nd Overall Tour of Qatar

3rd Road race, National Road Championships 4th GP Herning 4th Paris–Bourges 4th Grand Prix d'Isbergues 5th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge 2006 3rd Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen

3rd Le Samyn 6th Overall Tour of Qatar

7th Reading Classic 2007 Tour of Ireland

1st Stage 2 3rd Overall Danmark Rundt 1st Stage 2 3rd GP Herning 4th Overall Ster Elektrotoer 7th Paris–Bourges 9th Overall Sachsen Tour 2008 1st Philadelphia International Championship 1st Stage 21 Vuelta a España 2nd Road race, National Road Championships

5th Overall Danmark Rundt

1st Stages 2 & 3 5th Overall Ster Elektrotoer 1st Stage 2 6th Trofeo Laigueglia 7th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 8th Paris–Bourges 2009

1st Stage 4 Tour de Suisse 1st Stage 2 Volta a Catalunya 2nd Vattenfall Cyclassics 3rd Overall Tour of Ireland

4th Overall Tour de Luxembourg

1st Stage 4 5th Overall Danmark Rundt

1st Stage 1 6th Tour of Flanders 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 10th Paris–Roubaix 2010 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen

2nd Gran Piemonte 3rd Paris–Bourges 5th Overall Danmark Rundt

1st Stage 3 8th Gent–Wevelgem 2012 1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Burgos 3rd Gent–Wevelgem 7th Trofeo Palma de Mallorca 9th Tour of Flanders 2013 3rd Overall Danmark Rundt 1st Stages 2 & 3 4th Road race, National Road Championships 8th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 9th Vattenfall Cyclassics 2014

1st Stages 2 & 3 4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 5th Overall Tour de l'Eurométropole 9th Paris–Bourges 2015 6th E3 Harelbeke 7th Vattenfall Cyclassics 8th Overall Danmark Rundt

1st Stages 3 & 4 10th Overall Tour de Wallonie 2016 5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 6th Heistse Pijl 2018 3rd Japan Cup

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics & Monuments results timeline

Major championships timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish NH Not held