Nicki Sørensen

Nicki Sørensen is a Danish former professional road cyclist, born on 14 May 1975. He came to the sport late, starting at nineteen after an earlier life as a runner, and turned professional in 1999 with Team Chicky World before moving through Team Fakta to the Danish team that became CSC and later Saxo Bank. A strong all-round rider who worked best in hilly terrain, he was valued as a loyal support rider for team leaders rather than as a frequent winner. He rode five consecutive Tours de France from 2001 to 2005, finished twentieth overall in 2002, and helped his captain Tyler Hamilton win a stage in 2003 by sacrificing his own chances from a breakaway. He won a stage of the 2005 Vuelta a España and a solo stage of the 2009 Tour de France, and retired after the 2014 Il Lombardia. He was selected for the Danish squad at the 2000 Olympics, and afterwards worked as a directeur sportif with several teams. In 2015 he admitted to drug use in the early part of his career.