German road bicycle racer
Gerald Michael Ciolek (born 19 September 1986) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2016.[2] He currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team Dauner–Akkon.[3]
Career
Ciolek started racing at senior events in May 2005,[4] with Team Wiesenhof, where he had a very successful season. He won the German National Road Race Championships aged 18, the youngest ever rider to do so.[5] Ciolek was able to overcome seasoned sprinters Erik Zabel and Robert Förster without help from any teammates, ending the twelve-year domination of T-Mobile.[6] Besides winning the national championship, he secured three stage victories and the points competition at the Tour de Hongrie,[7] and a stage victory at the Mainfranken Tour.[8]
In 2006, Ciolek completed his training at the Ford Motor Company and was able to turn professional and devote his career to cycling.[9] Through the season, he rode strongly and secured a number of high placings in important races to prove he could challenge, and beat, the strongest sprinters in UCI ProTour teams. Ciolek had an excellent second placing at the Rund um den Henninger Turm, where he once again beat Erik Zabel.[10] Since Ciolek's AKUD Arnolds Sicherheit team merged with Team Wiesenhof at the beginning of the season[11] to be the strongest German team outside of the UCI ProTour, they were able to secure wild card entries to a number of ProTour events where Ciolek shone even more. At the Vattenfall Cyclassics, Ciolek secured fifth place.[12] A few weeks later, Ciolek won his first UCI ProTour event at the Tour of Germany, where he won stage three.[13] On 23 September he won U23 Road Race World Championship in Salzburg.[14]
For the 2007 season, Ciolek left Wiesenhof for the UCI ProTour with T-Mobile Team. After a relatively quiet early season, he came from behind to win the Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt in May. He then caught fire in August, when he took three stages of the Deutschland Tour and was a fast-charging third in the Vattenfall Cyclassics.
In the 2008 season, Ciolek raced for Team High Road. During 2008, he was a stage winner in Sparkassencup Schwenningen, and won two stages in the Bayern Rundfahrt. In the Tour de France, Ciolek was an instrumental figure in all four of Mark Cavendish's stage wins. On the final stage on the Champs-Élysées Ciolek managed to finish second to Gert Steegmans. He participated in the Olympic Games Road Race but had to abandon due to the effect the extreme conditions had on him. However, in September, he was able to bounce back and claim the fifth stage of the Deutschland Tour in an uphill sprint finish.
Ciolek parted ways with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step at the end of the 2012 season, and joined the MTN–Qhubeka squad for the 2013 season.[15] In his first year with the team, Ciolek won Milan–San Remo, in a time of 5 hours, 37 minutes and 20 seconds, holding off favourites Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack–Leopard) in the sprint finish.[16]
