Erik Zabel at the 2006 Tour de France
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Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Erik Zabel | ||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | Ete | ||||||||||||||||||
Born |
East Berlin, East Germany |
7 July 1970 ||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 69 kg (152 lb; 10.9 st) | ||||||||||||||||||
Amateur team(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
TSC Berlin | |||||||||||||||||||
RC Olympia Dortmund | |||||||||||||||||||
Professional team(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
1993–2005 | Team Telekom | ||||||||||||||||||
2006–2008 | Team Milram | ||||||||||||||||||
Managerial team(s) | |||||||||||||||||||
2009–2011 | Team Columbia–High Road | ||||||||||||||||||
2012–2013 | Team Katusha | ||||||||||||||||||
Major wins | |||||||||||||||||||
Other
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Medal record
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Other
Erik Zabel (born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who last raced with Milram. With over 200 professional wins he is considered by some to be one of the greatest German cyclists and cycling sprinters of all-time. Zabel won a record nine points classifications in grands tours including wearing the final green jersey in the Tour de France a record six consecutive years between 1996 and 2001 and the points jersey at the Vuelta a España in 2002, 2003 and 2004. Zabel won the Milan–San Remo four times and numerous six-day track events. He was one of the few road cyclists of recent times who raced all year, including track cycling in winter. For season 2012 he joined Team Katusha as sprint coach. He previously held that same position with the HTC–Highroad team until their dissolution.
Zabel grew up in East Berlin, in the borough Marzahn. His father Detlev was a professional cyclist. His first international success as a junior was at the track world championship when he was third in the team pursuit on the East German team. In 1988 he was fifth in the points race. In 1989, as a 19-year-old, he was included in the East German national track team for professionals. That year he became national champion of East Germany in the individual pursuit.