Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Niels Albert | |||||||||||||||||
Born | Bonheiden, Belgium | 5 February 1986|||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | |||||||||||||||||
Weight | 66 kg (146 lb; 10.4 st) | |||||||||||||||||
Team information | ||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Retired | |||||||||||||||||
Discipline | Cyclo-cross and road | |||||||||||||||||
Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||
Professional team | ||||||||||||||||||
2005–2014 | Palmans–Sapim–Collstrop | |||||||||||||||||
Major wins | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Niels Albert (born 5 February 1986 in Bonheiden, near Antwerp, Belgium) is a former professional cyclo-cross racing cyclist who currently resides in Tremelo. He became World Champion twice, in 2009 and 2012.
Similarly to Sven Nys, Albert began BMX racing, in which he was two times Belgian National Champion, before switching to cyclo-cross. On 8 October 2006 Albert took his first major senior victory at Grote Prijs Pro Cycling Neerpelt, Belgium. Albert won the first International cyclo-cross of the 2007/08 season with a victory in Erpe-Mere, Belgium. [1] Albert scored another big victory with the Superprestige in Gieten, the Netherlands where riding for the first time in the Elite category of the annual Gieten race, he beat Sven Nys and Lars Boom. [2]
He finished second at the 2008/09 Belgian Cyclo-cross Championships (behind Sven Nys).
In 2009, he became the Cyclo-cross world champion in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands. He took a second World Champion title in 2012, after a solo victory in Koksijde. [3]
His career ended abruptly on 19 May 2014, when Albert, aged 28, announced his retirement as a professional cyclist, due to heart problems. [4]
Sven Nys is a former professional cyclist competing in cyclo-cross and mountain bike. With two world championships, seven world cups, and over 140 competitive victories, he is considered one of the best cyclo-cross racers of his generation, and remains a prominent figure in cyclo-cross. Apart from cyclo-cross, Nys is also fivefold national mountainbike champion, and has competed in that discipline in two Olympic games.
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Erwin Vervecken is a Belgian former professional cyclist specializing in cyclo-cross. Vervecken was a professional cyclist for 16 seasons (1995–2010) and has been working since his retirement as an external sportive consultant for sport marketing company Golazo, where he helps organize cyclocross and mountain bike races and does the coordination of the UCI Gran Fondo World Series.
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