Darren Lapthorne (born 4 March 1983) is an Australian former professional

racing cyclist Cycle sport is Competition, competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing ...

Career

Born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Lapthorne began his career in 2006 with the Australian Professional Team . In his first year, he won the road race of the Teams Road Championships. He also finished third in one stage of the

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annually ...

. In January 2007 he achieved his greatest success by winning the

Australian National Road Race Championships The Australian National Road Race Championships, are held annually with an event for each category of bicycle rider: Men, Women & under 23 riders. The event also includes the Australian National Time Trial Championships since 2002. The Australia ...

. He rode for the German

Team Sparkasse A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

in 2008 and for British team in 2009. He retired from professional racing in 2016.

Personal life

In December 2008, Lapthorne returned to competition after 2 months out following the much-publicised 18 September 2008 disappearance and death of his younger sister, Britt (born 1987), while she was backpacking in

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik (), historically known as Ragusa (; see notes on naming), is a city on the Adriatic Sea in the region of Dalmatia, in the southeastern semi-exclave of Croatia. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterran ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. During this time, Lapthorne was heavily involved in the early informal efforts to identify her whereabouts, and for helping to expose the lack of attention given to the case by local police. In late 2008, he assisted in the repatriation of her remains to Australia and also attended the subsequent state coroner's hearing in 2015.

Major results

;2005 : 1st Stage 9 Tour of the Murray River ;2006 : 1st Stage 7

Tour de Korea The Tour de Korea is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in South Korea since 2000 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was rated by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race between 2005 and 2013, then promot ...

: 1st Stage 4 Tour of Gippsland ;2007 : 1st MaillotAustralia

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Overall De Bortoli Tour ::1st Stages 1a & 2 : 1st Melle : 1st Stage 1b Tour of the Southern Grampians : 1st Stage 1 Mersey Valley Tour : 2nd Overall

Tour de Hokkaido The Tour de Hokkaido is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Hokkaido, Japan since 1987 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is rated by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race. The event for 2018 was ...

::1st Stage 5 ;2008 : 1st Stage 5 Geelong Bay Classic Series, Geelong ;2009 : 1st Stage 2

Tour de Beauce Tour de Beauce is a men's elite professional road bicycle racing multi-day event held each June in the Beauce region of Quebec, Canada since 1986. It is the oldest stage-race in North America, and is a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-rated 2.2 ...

;2010 : 2nd Ryedale Grand Prix ;2013 : 8th Overall

Tour of Japan The Tour of Japan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Japan since 1996 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It is sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.1 category race. History Tour of Japan was formed a ...

: 10th Overall

Tour of Hainan The Tour of Hainan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Hainan Province, China. The race consists of nine stages and is part of the UCI Asia Tour. The event was first held in 2006. It was made a UCI 2.1 race from 2007 a ...

;2014 : 3rd Overall

Tour d'Azerbaïdjan Tour d'Azerbaïdjan was a 2.1 multi-stage bicycle race of the UCI Europe Tour, which took place in Azerbaijan around May between 2012 and 2017. Each day, participants started on a new phase of the race. The race was held in 7 regions of Azerbaij ...

References

External links

* * 1983 births Living people Australian male cyclists Cyclists from Melbourne Sportsmen from Victoria (state) {{australia-cycling-bio-stub