Steven Rooks

Steven Rooks (born 7 August 1960) is a former Dutch professional road racing cyclist known for his climbing ability. His professional career ran from 1982–1995.

Career In the 1988 Tour de France, Rooks finished second and won a finish on L’Alpe d’Huez. He won the polka dot jersey for the mountains classification and the Présence Classification (or combination classification). In the 1989 Tour, Rooks won Stage 15, a 39 km mountain top time trial to Orcières-Merlette; he finished seventh that year and again won the Présence Classification, the final year of that award.

Other victories include the 1983 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the 1986 Tour de Luxembourg and Amstel Gold Race, a stage at the 1987 Tour de Suisse, the 1988 Züri-Metzgete, and 1994 national championship. He finished second at the 1991 World Cycling Championships behind Italy's Gianni Bugno and ahead of Spain's Miguel Indurain.

Doping confession On the Dutch TV-show Reporter, Rooks admitted with Maarten Ducrot and Peter Winnen to doping. Rooks said he used testosterone and amphetamines during his 13-year career. In 2009, he admitted using EPO after 1989.

Major results Source:

1982 8th Overall Deutschland Tour 10th Overall Volta a Catalunya 1983 1st Liège–Bastogne–Liège 3rd Overall Paris–Nice 3rd Overall Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stage 2b 8th Rund um den Henninger Turm 8th Grand Prix de Monaco 10th Amstel Gold Race 1984 1st Stage 7 (TTT) Ronde van Nederland 2nd Paris–Tours 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 5th Rund um den Henninger Turm 5th Grand Prix Impanis 6th Overall Tour de Romandie 9th Overall Paris–Nice 1st Stage 2b (TTT) 10th Overall Tour Méditerranéen 1985 1st Stage 4b Volta a Catalunya 1st Stage 4 Tour of Norway 1st Stage 5b (TTT) Ronde van Nederland 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 1st Stage 7 3rd Overall Étoile de Bessèges 6th Binche-Tournai-Binche 8th Paris–Brussels 10th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1986 1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 1st Prologue 1st Overall Tour de Luxembourg 1st Amstel Gold Race 1st Grand Prix de Wallonie 5th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 5th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 7th La Flèche Wallonne 7th Paris–Brussels 9th Overall Tour de France 9th Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme 1987 1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse 2nd Overall Tour of Britain 2nd Amstel Gold Race 2nd Omloop Het Volk 6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 6th Tour of Flanders 9th Overall Tour de Luxembourg 9th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía 1988 1st Züri-Metzgete 2nd Overall Tour de France 1st Mountains classification 1st Combination classification 1st Stage 12 2nd Amstel Gold Race 3rd Milan–San Remo 3rd La Flèche Wallonne 3rd Clásica de San Sebastián 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 5th Tour of Flanders 1989 1st Overall Tour du Vaucluse 2nd La Flèche Wallonne 4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 5th Tre Valli Varesine 6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 6th Baden-Baden (with Gert-Jan Theunisse) 7th Overall Tour de France 1st Combination classification 1st Stage 15 7th Rund um den Henninger Turm 1990 1st Stage 2 (TTT) Tour de France 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 2nd Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 3rd Liège–Bastogne–Liège 4th Overall Ronde van Nederland 5th La Flèche Wallonne 1991 1st Road race, National Road Championships

2nd Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 6th Wincanton Classic 9th Overall Vuelta a España 1992 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège 5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 5th Overall Tour of Galicia 1st Stage 4 7th Wincanton Classic 8th La Flèche Wallonne 10th Overall Vuelta a España 10th Overall Tour of the Basque Country 1993 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 4th Brabantse Pijl 9th Veenendaal–Veenendaal 10th Liège–Bastogne–Liège 1994 1st Road race, National Road Championships 6th Amstel Gold Race 1995 8th Amstel Gold Race

Grand Tour general classification results timeline Grand Tour 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Vuelta a España — — DNF — — — — —910 — — — Giro d'Italia — — — — — DNF — 75 — — DNF — DNF Tour de France DNF — 259 DNF27 33 26 17 DNF DNF —

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish

Honors In 1988, Rooks was Dutch Sportsman of the year. Since 2004, Maastricht, the Steven Rooks Classic, an amateur race, is organised in his honor.