Wikipedia / Bernhard Eisel
Wikipedia / Bernhard Eisel
Bernhard Eisel (born 17 February 1981) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the , , , and teams. Following his retirement, he worked as an analyst and presenter for Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network (GCN), before joining as a directeur sportif in 2022.
Career
Born in Voitsberg, Eisel won his first race when he was 11 years old, since then he has won many races. When he was 17, he moved to Italy to race for the team Rinascita Ormelle, based in Treviso. After that he moved to Gli Amici Piave, the team of Moreno Argentin. In 2001 he joined the team and became a professional cyclist, from 2003 on he joined .
In 2007, Eisel changed to . Eisel enjoyed a successful first season with his main victory coming on Stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve. Eisel established himself as the right-hand man of sprinter and teammate Mark Cavendish, protecting him throughout the flats and mountain stages and forming part of the HTC lead out train that saw Cavendish take many notable victories in the Tour de France and other races. Eisel also had opportunities to ride for himself, mainly in the classics. He won Paris–Bourges in 2008 and Gent–Wevelgem in 2010, and in 2011, Eisel recorded his best placing in a monument by finishing seventh in Paris–Roubaix. Eisel was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011.
Following the announcement that would fold at the end of 2011, Eisel joined Mark Cavendish in moving to . After Cavendish announced he would cut his three-year deal with the team short to move to , Eisel announced he would stay with until the end of the 2015 season.
On 28 September 2015, Sky announced that Eisel would be among the riders leaving the team at the end of the year, following four seasons with the team. The following day it was announced that he had joined Cavendish (and Mark Renshaw, their former teammate at HTC) in signing for – to be renamed as .
On 14 January 2020 he announced his retirement from professional racing. Shortly afterwards he took up a role as a presenter, reporter and commentator for Eurosport and Global Cycling Network (GCN). In November 2021 announced that Eisel would join them as a directeur sportif from the 2022 season.
Major results
1999
5th Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships
2002
1st Radclassic-Gleisdorf
2nd Overall Paris–Corrèze
4th Overall GP Erik Breukink
2003 (2 pro wins)
1st Stage 4 Tour du Limousin
3rd Overall GP Erik Breukink
1st Stage 2
7th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
2004
1st Stage 3 Criterium des Espoirs
1st Bad Ischl
5th Scheldeprijs
7th Overall Tour de Picardie
2005 (4)
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
1st Stage 1 Tour de Suisse
2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul
1st Points classification
1st Stage 4
2006 (3)
1st Stage 4 Tour of Qatar
1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
1st Grazer Altstadt Kriterium
1st Mayrhofen Europa-Kriterium
2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne
1st Points classification
1st Stage 2a
2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul
5th Paris–Roubaix
7th Gent–Wevelgem
2007 (3)
1st Reading Classic
1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
1st Linz criterium
4th Overall Tour of Qatar
8th Trofeo Palma
2008 (2)
1st Paris–Bourges
1st Stage 5 Volta ao Algarve
3rd Reading Classic
2009 (1)
1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse
1st Welser Sparkassen Innenstadt-Kriterium
3rd Road race, National Road Championships
9th Scheldeprijs
2010 (1)
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España
7th Paris–Bourges
9th Paris–Tours
2011
7th Paris–Roubaix
7th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Overall Tour of Qatar
2012
3rd E3 Harelbeke
2013
5th Overall Tour of Qatar
7th Gent–Wevelgem
10th Milan–San Remo
2014
3rd Road race, National Road Championships
2017
1st Mountains classification, Arctic Race of Norway
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Classics results timeline
References
External links
Bernhard Eisel profile at Team Sky