Corbin John Strong (born 30 April 2000) is a New Zealand road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He won the points race and finished second in the team pursuit at the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
In 2018, Strong crashed into a stationary car while on a training ride, fracturing his T1 vertebra.
Strong started racing in 2019 with the and achieved early success in Asian races. He won the Under-23 competition in the Tour de Korea and Tour de Kumano plus the sprint jersey in the Tour de Ijen.
He then spent two seasons with , where a COVID-19 stricken world saw him only compete at the New Zealand Cycle Classic, finishing on the podium with top 5 results in all stages and walking away with the white youth jersey.
The following season Strong won the New Zealand Cycle Classic with the bonus seconds on the final stage pushing him into the lead. It was announced in August 2021 that Strong would ride for UCI WorldTeam for the following three seasons.
His first year of professional cycling started well with top 35 placings in all races he finished. A ninth place in Stage 7 of the Tour of Turkey placed him in 15th overall. Strong took his first professional victory at the shortened Tour of Britain taking the first stage up a punchy slope ahead of Omar Fraile.
Strong went to the 2023 Tour de France as his team's nominated sprinter. He achieved two top ten finishes in bunch sprints most notably ninth in the final stage of the Tour on the Champs-ÃÂlysées. Later in the season at the Tour de Luxembourg Strong took his only victory of the season. Winning the mass-sprint first stage to take the leaders jersey, he would lose it the following day.
Strong started his 2024 season at the Down Under Classic, a criterium that preludes the Tour Down Under, where he finished tenth. At the Tour Down Under, Strong finished eighth on the opening stage and with bonus seconds was sitting fourth overall. He moved up to second the following stage before dropping to third after stage four and ultimately retireing from the race on stage 5 due to illness. Strong bounced back from illness to podium at the Surf Coast Classic five days later.
His only victory of the season came at the 2.Pro rated Tour de Wallonie. Strong won Stage two of the tour in a mass bunch sprint moving him into the leaders jersey. He kept the leaders jersey for two more stages until the final stage where Matteo Trentin earned enough bonus seconds to pass Strong in the overall. Strong competed in the individual road race at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He was New Zealand's best finisher placing 27 out of 90 who started the race.
The 2024 Vuelta a España was Strong's second Grand Tour of his career where he achieved five top-6s in stages placing third twice.
Strong won the Arctic Race of Norway with Tom Pidcock taking second place. Strong won the opening stage and came second in the final stage for the victory. He said of the race: "I thought I could do maybe a top five, maybe a podium on GC, if I had a really good ride. I was quietly confident. Yesterday exceeded my expectations. So to be in the yellow and finish it off with my teammates today is a really nice feeling."Part of his prize included 50kg of salmon from an event sponsor after winning the first stage.
Strong came 5th in the MilanâÂÂSan Remo. Strong said of the race: âÂÂIâÂÂm happy. I felt good, the teamwork and the guys were awesome, and this has always been a race that I thought could suit me really well...IâÂÂve had horrible luck this year. I think IâÂÂve crashed or had mechanicals or got ill in every race IâÂÂve done so far this year, so itâÂÂs really nice to be in the final racing and to get a top five in a Monument, itâÂÂs really special. Actually, it means a lot.âÂÂ
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