Matthias Kessler

German cyclist

Matthias Kessler
Personal information
Kessler at the Rund um den Henninger Turm 2005
Full name	Matthias Kessler
Born	(1979-05-16) 16 May 1979 (age 45) Nuremberg, Germany
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	70 kg (154 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	All-rounder
Professional teams
2000–2006	Team Telekom
2007	Astana

Major wins
Grand Tours Tour de France 1 individual stage (2006) Single-day races and Classics GP Miguel Induráin (2003, 2004)

Matthias Kessler (born 16 May 1979 in Nuremberg) is a German former professional road racing cyclist who competed from 2000 to 2007 for Team Telekom and Astana.

Biography

Kessler debuted as a pro during the 2000 season after becoming German under 23 champion in 1999, a year in which he also took the bronze medal in the under 23 cycling world championships. Despite the fact that he has only 3 wins in his palmarès, which includes two consecutive victories at the Gran Premio Miguel Induráin and LUK-Cup of 2003, he is seen as an outsider for the Ardennes classic races.

In Grand Tours, Kessler won Stage 3 of the 2006 Tour de France in a late breakaway. The previous day on Stage 2, he was caught by the peloton less than 50 meters from the finish line. He had to abandon the 2004 Tour de France after a serious and spectacular fall caused him severe injuries, even though he managed to end the stage. In the 2005 Tour de France, he was part of the T-Mobile line-up and almost got a win at Mende.

Kessler is known for riding with his jersey open and also for wearing an undershirt intentionally torn for better cooling. In January 2010, he had a collision with a cat while on a training ride in Mallorca, Spain, and was left in a critical condition with severe head injuries.^[1]

Doping

On 27 June 2007 Kessler was suspended by Astana for failing a drugs test for testosterone taken in Charleroi in April 2007.^[2] He was fired from the team on 13 July.^[3] Later named as a recipient of a blood transfusion at the University of Freiburg along with teammates Andreas Klöden and Patrick Sinkewitz during the 2006 Tour de France.

Major results

1997: 2nd Overall Grand Prix Rüebliland; 5th Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships
1999: 1st Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships; 3rd Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships; 3rd Gran Premio della Liberazione
2001: 2nd Overall Hessen Rundfahrt
2002: 2nd Giro del Piemonte; 3rd Luk-Cup Bühl; 6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
2003: 1st Luk-Cup Bühl; 1st GP Miguel Induráin; 5th Amstel Gold Race; 8th Milano–Torino
2004: 1st GP Miguel Induráin; 3rd La Flèche Wallonne; 6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège; 6th Amstel Gold Race; 7th Paris–Tours; 7th Milano–Torino
2005: 7th GP Miguel Induráin; 10th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
2006: 1st Stage 3 Tour de France; 2nd Road race, National Road Championships; 10th La Flèche Wallonne
2007: 4th La Flèche Wallonne; 4th Amstel Gold Race; 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Giro d'Italia	—	23	25	—	—	25	72
Tour de France	—	—	—	49	DNF	57	53
Vuelta a España	102	—	47	—	—	—	—

Legend
—	Did not compete
DNF	Did not finish

References

^ Kessler in critical condition after Mallorca crash
^ "Pro Tour 2007 - Kessler fails dope test". Eurosport. 2007-06-27. Archived from the original on 2007-06-30. Retrieved 2007-06-27.
^ "Astana fires Kessler after B sample returns positive". USA Today. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2007-10-16.