Rolf Sørensen (born 20 April 1965) is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer. He is currently working as a cycling commentator and agent. Born in Helsinge in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy at the age of 17, where he has lived since. He goes under the name Il Biondo due to his blonde hair.
Accomplishments
Sørensen won such classic one-day races as the Tour of Flanders, LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège, ParisâÂÂBrussels, ParisâÂÂTours and MilanoâÂÂTorino, as well as slightly smaller races like the Coppa Bernocchi (twice), and the Rund um den Henninger Turm or Grand Prix Frankfurt. He has led the UCI Road World Cup on several occasions, finishing third in 1989 and 1991 and second in 1997 after a broken foot kept him from scoring points in the last two World Cup races of the season.
Sørensen also won individual stages in the 1994 and 1996 Tour de France, and wore the yellow jersey as the leader of the race after the team time trial in 1991, won by his Italian team Ariostea. He kept it until he broke his collar bone in a fall four days later.
Rolf Sørensen participated in the Tour de France seven times, the last time being in 2001. He has also won a number of stages in other stage races, among them stage 9 of the 1995 Giro d'Italia, three stages in the Tour of the Basque Country, six stages in TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico, two in the Tour de Suisse, and two in the Tour de Romandie.
Sørensen also claimed the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics.
Doping
For many years, Sørensen denied that he used performance-enhancing drugs, but more than a decade after the end of his career as a professional cyclist, he admitted using EPO, and to some extent, Cortisone. He broke the news to Danish TV2 on 18 March 2013.
Personal life
Rolf is the son of cyclist Jens Sørensen, who competed for Denmark at the 1960 Summer Olympics in the team pursuit.
Career achievements
Major results
1986
1st Points classification Danmark Rundt
9th MilanâÂÂSan Remo
1987
1st Overall TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
1st Grand Prix Pino Cerami
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
:1st Young rider classification
3rd Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
1988
1st Gran Premio CittÃÂ di Camaiore
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
:1st Points classification
:1st Young rider classification
2nd ZüriâÂÂMetzgete
2nd Rund um den Henninger Turm
2nd Points classification Giro d'Italia
3rd Overall TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
3rd Giro dell'Emilia
3rd Grand Prix Pino Cerami
8th LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège
1989
1st Stage 3 (TTT) Giro d'Italia
1st Coppa Bernocchi
1st Giro dell'Etna
2nd Coppa Ugo Agostoni
3rd GentâÂÂWevelgem
4th Tour of Flanders
4th ZüriâÂÂMetzgete
9th Rund um den Henninger Turm
1990
1st Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
1st ParisâÂÂTours
1st Trofeo Laigueglia
2nd Coppa Bernocchi
6th ZüriâÂÂMetzgete
6th Tre Valli Varesine
7th MilanoâÂÂTorino
1991
Tour de France
:1st Stage 2 (TTT)
:Held after Stage 2-5
1st Stage 9 Tour de Suisse
2nd MilanâÂÂSan Remo
3rd UCI Road World Cup
3rd Tour of Flanders
3rd LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège
5th Giro di Lombardia
1992
1st Overall TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
:1st Stage 3
1st ParisâÂÂBrussels
5th Giro di Lombardia
7th Rund um den Henninger Turm
9th MilanoâÂÂTorino
10th MilanâÂÂSan Remo
1993
1st LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège
1st MilanoâÂÂTorino
1st Rund um den Henninger Turm
1st Coppa Bernocchi
1st Stage 7 TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
1st Stage 9 Tour de Suisse
1st Stage 3a Three Days of De Panne
Tour de Romandie
:1st Stage 1, 2 & 6
2nd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
5th MilanâÂÂSan Remo
6th La Flèche Wallonne
1994
Tour de France
:1st Stages 3 (TTT) & 14
1st ParisâÂÂBrussels
1st Trofeo Laigueglia
6th Overall TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
6th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1995
1st Stage 9 Giro d'Italia
2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne
2nd MilanoâÂÂTorino
2nd Points classification Giro d'Italia
3rd ParisâÂÂBrussels
4th Giro di Lombardia
5th Giro dell'Emilia
8th LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège
9th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
1996
1st Stage 13 Tour de France
1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
:1st Stage 4
1st KuurneâÂÂBrusselsâÂÂKuurne
1st Stage 7 TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
2nd Road race, Olympic Games
3rd Rund um den Henninger Turm
9th LiègeâÂÂBastogneâÂÂLiège
9th ParisâÂÂBrussels
9th De Brabantse Pijl
1997
1st Tour of Flanders
1st Prologue TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
1st Stage 3b Three Days of De Panne
2nd UCI Road World Cup
3rd ZüriâÂÂMetzgete
4th KuurneâÂÂBrusselsâÂÂKuurne
6th ParisâÂÂRoubaix
8th MilanâÂÂSan Remo
10th Amstel Gold Race
1998
1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
4th Overall TirrenoâÂÂAdriatico
:1st Stage 5
4th Overall Three Days of De Panne
6th ParisâÂÂRoubaix
1999
2nd Overall Danmark Rundt
:1st Stage 1
4th Overall Three Days of De Panne
7th KuurneâÂÂBrusselsâÂÂKuurne
2000
1st Overall Danmark Rundt
3rd De Brabantse Pijl
8th MilanâÂÂSan Remo
8th ParisâÂÂTours
2001
4th Tour of Flanders
10th MilanâÂÂSan Remo
10th ParisâÂÂRoubaix
2002
6th Tour of Flanders
Monuments results timeline
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
References
External links