Tom Steels

Tom Steels (born 2 September 1971) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, specialising in sprint finishes and one-day races. He was one of the top sprinters in the peloton.

Steels competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, in the Men's 1000 metres Time Trial, finishing 19th.

Steels began his professional cycling career in 1994 with the Vlaanderen 2002 team, winning eight times in his first two seasons. His breakthrough was after he signed with Mapei in 1996. That year he won Omloop Het Volk, and Gent–Wevelgem. In 1997, he rode in his first Tour de France, and looked capable of a stage win after coming second on Stage 2. However, during the sprint for the finish for the sixth stage he found himself blocked and boxed in by other sprinters and in frustration threw his water bottle at another rider, an offence for which he was disqualified from that year's Tour. As a result, he earned the nickname "Tom Bidon".

His best season was 1998 when he won the national championship for the second time and returned to the Tour de France to win four stages. The points jersey would also have been his, as the people in front of him all admitted to doping. Steels won five more stages in the 1999 and 2000 Tour de France. He was also national champion in 2002 and 2004 which made him the record holder of Belgian road championships. 2006 was his first year as a professional that he failed to win a race.

Steels retired from racing at the end of the 2008 season, during which he raced for Landbouwkrediet – Tönissteiner. In October 2010 he started as a coach for Quick Step, a Protour team, during 2011.

He is the uncle of fellow racing cyclist Stijn Steels.

Major results

1994 1st Stage 10 Tour de l'Avenir GP Zele 3rd Grand Prix Rik Van Steenbergen 1995 1st Grote 1-MeiPrijs 1st Grand Prix Rik Van Steenbergen 1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs 1st Dwars door ’t Pajottenland 1st Stage 6 K-Mart West-Virginia Mountain Classic 1st Stage 5 Tour of the Netherlands 2nd Dwars door België 2nd Belgian National Road Race Championships 5th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 6th Lancaster Classic 8th Le Samyn 9th Overall Tour de l'Oise 10th Reading Classic 10th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens 1996 1st Omloop Het Volk 1st Gent–Wevelgem 1st De Kustpijl Vuelta a España 1st Stages 4 & 22 1st Stage 2 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stage 5 Volta a Galicia 1st Criterium Aalst 2nd Scheldeprijs 2nd Rund um Köln 2nd Paris–Tours 3rd Binche-Tournai-Binche 5th Belgian National Road Race Championships 9th Grand Prix Cholet-Pays de la Loire 1997

1st Trofeo Calvià 1st Schaal Sels Paris–Nice

1st Stages 1, 2, 4 & 7 Tour de Wallonie 1st Stages 4 & 5 1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg 1st Stage 7 Tour de Suisse 2nd Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 3rd Trofeo Manacor 6th Trofeo Alcúdia 10th Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem 1998

1st Trofeo Sóller 1st Trofeo Calvià 1st Dwars door België Vuelta a Andalucía

1st Stages 2 & 5 Paris–Nice

1st Stages 3 & 4 Tour de France 1st Stages 1, 12, 18 & 21 3rd Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden 6th Omloop Mandel 7th Trofeo Manacor 10th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen 1999 1st Gent–Wevelgem Vuelta a Andalucía 1st Stages 1 & 5 Tour de France 1st Stages 2, 3 & 17 1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice 1st Stage 1 Driedaagse van de Panne 2nd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca 3rd Trofeo Alcúdia 3rd Omloop Het Volk 3rd Paris–Roubaix 4th Dwars door België 4th Omloop Mandel 5th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen 6th Trofeo Luis Puig 6th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Leif Hoste) 2000 Tour de France 1st Stages 2 & 3 Tour de Wallonie 1st Stages 2 & 6 1st Stage 4 Tour Méditerranéen 1st Stage 8 Paris–Nice 1st Stage 2 Driedaagse van de Panne 4th Belgian National Road Race Championships 6th Omloop Het Volk 9th Scheldeprijs 2001 Tour of Sweden 1st Stages 2 & 3 1st Stage 1 Deutschland Tour 3rd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca 7th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 2002

1st Stage 6 Four Days of Dunkirk 1st Stage 6 Volta a Catalunya 2nd Trofeo Alcúdia 2nd Scheldeprijs 4th Trofeo Cala Millor 6th Trofeo Palma de Mallorca 8th Schaal Sels 2003 Tour of Belgium

1st Stage 1 1st Stage 3 Étoile de Bessèges 1st Stage 7 Tour of Austria 1st Heusden criterium 9th Nokere Koerse 2004

Tour of Austria

1st Stages 1 & 3 1st Stage 1 Étoile de Bessèges 1st Stage 2 Tour de Luxembourg 1st St Niklaas criterium 6th Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen 9th Châteauroux Classic 2005 Étoile de Bessèges 1st Stages 2 & 4 1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve 1st Stage 3a Driedaagse van de Panne 2nd St Niklaas criterium 7th Gent–Wevelgem 2006 9th Paris–Tours 9th Nationale Sluitingsprijs 2007 9th Eindhoven Team Time Trial 2008 2nd St Niklaas criterium