Matthias Kessler Biography

German cyclist

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 cl*ic 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.

Doping

On 27 June 2007 Kessler was suspended by Astana for failing a drugs test for testosterone taken in Charleroi in April 2007. He was fired from the team on 13 July. 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

19972nd Overall Grand Prix Rüebliland5th Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships19991st Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships3rd Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships3rd Gran Premio della Liberazione20012nd Overall Hessen Rundfahrt20022nd Giro del Piemonte3rd Luk-Cup Bühl6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège20031st Luk-Cup Bühl1st GP Miguel Induráin5th Amstel Gold Race8th Milano–Torino20041st GP Miguel Induráin3rd La Flèche Wallonne6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège6th Amstel Gold Race7th Paris–Tours7th Milano–Torino20057th GP Miguel Induráin10th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana20061st Stage 3 Tour de France2nd Road race, National Road Championships10th La Flèche Wallonne20074th La Flèche Wallonne4th Amstel Gold Race8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

Grand Tour general cl*ification results timeline

See also

• List of doping cases in cycling
• List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Matthias Kessler.

• Matthias Kessler at UCI
• Matthias Kessler at Cycling Archives
• Matthias Kessler at ProCyclingStats
• Matthias Kessler at Cycling Quotient
• Matthias Kessler at CycleBase