Michael Albasini

Michael Albasini (born 20 December 1980) is a Swiss former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2020, for the , , and teams.

Professional career

Albasini began his career in 2003 with , moved to at the beginning of 2005, and signed with for the 2009 season. From 2012 until his retirement, Albasini rode with the Australian professional cycling team .

In 2012, Albasini met success at the UCI World Tour race Volta a Catalunya. The six-stage event contained no time trials, and Albasini took the lead by triumphing on the very first stage over Anthony Delaplace from , getting a 42 seconds overall lead. On the very next stage, he was part of a select group of about 20 riders that were led to the line by Bradley Wiggins after a day in the mountains and he outsprinted his rivals, taking his second win in a row. He held on to his advantage on the following hilly stages, winning the overall classification by 1 minute and 30 seconds over second-placed Samuel Sánchez of .

In 2015, Albasini took a prestigious podium placing at the La Flèche Wallonne, coming in third place atop the Mur de Huy behind Alejandro Valverde and Julian Alaphilippe. He later won the second stage of the Tour de Romandie, having the better in the sprint of a group of 49 riders who had survived the climb and descent of the Col de la Vue des Alpes. He repeated the feat the very next day in Porrentruy, winning by a couple of bike lengths over Julian Alaphilippe. He had to abandon the Tour de France on Stage 5, suffering from a broken arm after a crash.

In October 2019, Albasini announced that he would retire from the sport after the 2020 Tour de Suisse. Following that race's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland, Albasini announced that he intended to extend his career to the end of the 2020 season.

Major results Source:

1998

2001 4th Overall Ster Elektrotoer 6th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell 2002

5th Overall Grand Prix Guillaume Tell 7th Overall GP Kranj 1st Stage 1 7th Giro del Lago Maggiore 2004 5th Züri-Metzgete 9th Paris–Bourges 2005 Tour de Suisse

1st Stage 5 7th Overall Three Days of De Panne 10th Giro della Romagna 2006 Tour de Suisse

3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies 2007 5th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe 1st Stage 4 2008 2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg 1st Stage 3 2nd GP Miguel Induráin 3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen 6th Tour du Haut Var 7th La Flèche Wallonne 8th Gran Premio di Lugano 2009

1st Stage 2 1st Stage 4 Tour of the Basque Country 1st Stage 5 Tour de Suisse 9th La Flèche Wallonne 2010

1st Stage 3 4th Overall Tour de Pologne 10th La Flèche Wallonne 2011 1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 1st Stage 13 Vuelta a España

3rd Overall Bayern Rundfahrt 1st Stage 3 4th Overall Tour of Oman 2012

1st Stages 1 & 2 1st Stage 8 Tour de Suisse 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 2nd La Flèche Wallonne 4th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 2013 1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 1st Stage 4 Paris–Nice 1st Stage 4 (TTT) Tour de France 2014 1st Tre Valli Varesine Tour de Romandie 1st Stages 1, 2 & 4 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 6th Giro di Lombardia 7th Trofeo Muro-Port d'Alcúdia 7th La Flèche Wallonne 2015 Tour de Romandie 1st Stages 2 & 3 2nd Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 3rd La Flèche Wallonne 2016 Tour de Romandie

1st Stage 5 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège 7th La Flèche Wallonne 2017 1st Coppa Agostoni 1st Stage 2 Tour of the Basque Country 1st Stage 1 Tour de Romandie 2nd Vuelta a La Rioja 3rd Amstel Gold Race 4th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 4th Coppa Bernocchi 4th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 5th La Flèche Wallonne 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 7th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 10th Tre Valli Varesine 2018

1st Stage 2 7th Road race, UEC European Road Championships 2019 4th Time trial, National Road Championships 10th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 10th Coppa Sabatini

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Giro d'Italia 87 — — — — — 123 — — — — — — — — Tour de France — 145 115 58 — — — — 110 86 70 DNF 132 98 — / Vuelta a España — — — — — DNF — 122 — — — — — — 118

Classics results timeline Monument 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Milan–San Remo — — — — — 118 — DNF 109 — — — — 122 45 — — 130 Tour of Flanders DNF DNF DNF DNF — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Paris–Roubaix — DNF DNF — DNF — — — — — — — — — — — — Liège–Bastogne–Liège DNF — DNF — DNF — 64 97 87 75 51 95 5627 DNF 70 76 Giro di Lombardia — — — — — — — DNF DNF DNF DNF6 DNF — DNF DNF — DNF Classic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Amstel Gold Race — — DNF DNF 79 69 15 41 62 87 55 DNF 69 573 DNF 60 La Flèche Wallonne DNF — DNF — DNF7910 112 217375 DNF DNF 49 Clásica de San Sebastián — — — — 21 — — — — DNF DNF 32 — 70 DNF — —

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