Jakob Storm Piil (born 9 March 1973) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common ...

, where he later lived many years in Odense. He is an all-round rider, known for his aggressive style of riding, whose speciality is to pick the right breakaways. He competed at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. He is the cousin of Danish former professional bicycle racer Jørgen V. Pedersen.

Biography

Piil was born in

Virum Virum is a mostly residential, suburban neighbourhood in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, located on both sides of Lyngby Kongevej, approximately 15 km north of central Copenhagen, Denmark. The neighbourhood is bordered by Lake Furesø to the ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. He started his career as a track racer, riding six-day races with shifting partners, including the Danish riders Michael Sandstød, Tayeb Braikia, and

Jimmi Madsen Jimmi Madsen (born 4 January 1969) is a Danish former cyclist who raced professionally from 1993 to 2004. He rode for Denmark on the track in four Olympic Games: 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. He won the bronze medal in the Men's team pursuit in ...

. In 1997 he signed up for the RDM professional

cycling team A cycling team is a group of cycle sport, cyclists who join a team or are acquired and train together to compete in bicycle racing, bicycle races whether amateur or professional – and the supporting personnel. Cycling teams are most important i ...

, getting only a handful of top-ten results in his first year as a pro. He moved to Danish Team Acceptcard in 1998, where he got the first, minor, victory of his career at the GP Skive in 1998. 1999 was his professional breakthrough with many good results, and a meriting win of the USPRO Championship. In 2000, he switched to

Team CSC Tinkoff () was a Russian-registered professional cycling team from Russia and previously Denmark. It competed in the UCI World Tour. The team was owned by Russian Oleg Tinkov and, from 1999 until March 2015, was managed by former Tour de France w ...

, back then known as ''Team Memory Card – Jack & Jones''. His first year at Team CSC wasn't entirely successful, as a crash into a car just before the

Milan–San Remo Milan–San Remo (in Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance of 298 km (~185.2 miles) it is t ...

ruined the first four months of his season, though he still managed a few minor results. 2001 was a better season for Piil, as he won the

Peace Race The Peace Race (german: Friedensfahrt, cs, Závod míru, sk, Preteky mieru, russian: Велогонка Мира (), pl, Wyścig Pokoju , french: Course de la Paix, it, Corsa della Pace, ro, Cursa Păcii) was an annual multiple stage bicycl ...

and, perhaps most importantly for his later career, finished a 2nd at stage 17 in the

2001 Tour de France The 2001 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 7 to 29 July, and the 88th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti- ...

. After a 16-man break-away was established after only five kilometres, Piil was one of three riders in the 16-man group who were able to keep the

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...

behind them, but Piil found himself beaten by

Serge Baguet Serge Baguet (18 August 1969 – 9 February 2017) was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer. Career He was the son of the ex-cyclist Roger Baguet. He was married to Sandra Rasschaert and they have a son (Sam). Baguet started his profes ...

at the finish line. In 2002 Piil won Paris–Tours and

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as Po ...

, and once again tried his luck at winning a stage in the 2002 Tour de France. At the 18th stage, Piil was lined up in a favourable position to sprint for the stage win, when his foot jumped out of the toe clip with 250 meters to go, and Piil came in third. In the 2003 Tour de France, Piil finally got the success he sought. At the 219 kilometres long stage 10, Piil was a part of a nine-man breakaway which ended up in a duel for the stage win between Piil and Fabio Sacchi. As the two riders neared the finishing line, they shook hands on a good final sprint, and Sacchi opened with Piil on the wheel, a position Piil used to his full advantage, sprinting past Sacchi just before the finishing line. In 2004, Piil tried again, and he won the title of the most aggressive rider in the

2004 Tour de France The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti ...

, but didn't get a stage win for his effort. Most of the 2005 season was ruined due to injuries, and Piil was left out of Team CSC's setup for the 2005 Tour de France. Instead, he rode the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the r ...

, where he once again showed his tenacity to attack, and looked in great form until illness forced him to retire from the race. He recuperated in time for the

World Cycling Championship The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...

where he got the biggest result of the season with a fifth place, behind winner

Tom Boonen Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in ...

. In 2006 Jakob Piil did not participate in any of the grand tours, and shortly after being left out of the 2006 Vuelta a España team, he wrote a contract with

T-Mobile Team T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic ( T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland ( T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobil ...

Major results

;1997 :8th

GP Aarhus Colliers Classic (also known as ''Grand Prix Aarhus'') is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Aarhus, Denmark. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of ro ...

;1998 :4th

;1999 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Tour of Sweden The Tour of Sweden (or Postgirot Open) was an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's f ...

::1st Stage 2 :1st First Union Invitational :1st US Pro Championship :2nd

Grand Prix de Villers-Cotterêts The Grand Prix de Villers-Cotterêts was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in the commune of Villers-Cotterêts, France from 1998 until 2008. In 2005 and 2006, the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, and was also ...

:5th Overall

:9th Overall

;2001 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stages 3 & 7 : 1st MaillotDinamarca

Road race, National Road Championships :1st

Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise, formerly known as the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February around the city of Marseille, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event ...

:3rd

Grand Prix of Aargau Canton Grand Prix of Aargau Canton (german: Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau) is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Aargau canton, one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. The race consists of fifteen laps around the Swiss town o ...

:4th First Union Invitational :5th Overall

;2002 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 1 :1st Paris–Tours :10th Overall

::1st Stage 5 ;2003 :1st Stage 10

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

:1st

:1st Wachovia Invitational ;2004 :8th Overall

Ster Elektrotoer The ZLM Tour is a cycling race held over five stages, held in the southern Netherlands and Belgium as a 2.Pro race on the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's elite road cycling tour. It was inaugurated in 2020. The serie ...

:10th Wachovia Invitational ;2005 :4th Trofeo Città di Castelfidardo :10th Overall

Sachsen-Tour The Sachsen Tour is a multi-stage road bicycle race held in the region of Saxony, Germany. It was first held in 1985 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicy ...

;2006 :2nd

Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese The Gran Premio Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Carnago, Italy. From 2005 to 2012, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

:5th GP Ouest–France

References

External links

Elmic
(source) {{DEFAULTSORT:Piil, Jakob 1973 births Living people Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Danish male cyclists Danish Tour de France stage winners Olympic cyclists of Denmark Danmark Rundt winners People from Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality Sportspeople from the Capital Region of Denmark