Leigh Howard (born 18 October 1989) is an Australian 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 ...

. He qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in both the Men's Madison and Men's Team Pursuit. Howard was part of the Men's team pursuit together with

Kelland O'Brien Kelland O'Brien (born 22 May 1998) is an Australian Cycle sport, racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . O'Brien qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and was part of the Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's team pursuit ...

, Sam Weisford and

Alexander Porter Alexander Porter (June 24, 1785January 13, 1844) was an attorney, politician, and planter, who served as United States Senator from Louisiana from 1833 to 1837. Born in Ireland, he emigrated in 1801 at the age of 16 to the United States. He ser ...

. They secured a bronze medal after overlapping New Zealand who had crashed. Howard also competed in the Men's Madison where the team finished fifth with a time of 3:48.448 and therefore did not qualify for the final.

Career

Born in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia, Howard now resides in

Waurn Ponds, Victoria Waurn Ponds is a mainly residential southern suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The suburb is bounded by Rossack Drive, Princes Highway, the Geelong to Warrnambool railway, Reservoir Road, Draytons Road, Pigdons Road, Deakin University and ...

. He began cycling competitively at the age of 10 and first represented Australia in 2005 at the age of 16. Howard is an

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

scholarship holder, and initially trained as an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

electrician An electrician is a tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance ...

. Howard won the bronze medal in the omnium event at the

2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship for track cycling. They took place at the Manchester Velodrome in Manchester, United Kingdom from 26 to 30 March 2008. Eighteen events were scheduled; the women's team pur ...

. He went on to take several medals in round 2 and 4 of the

2008–09 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics The 2008–2009 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Classics was a multi race competition over a season of track cycling. The season ran from 31 October 2008 to 18 February 2009. The World Cup is organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale. The World C ...

. In 2009, he again won a medal in the omnium at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, this time taking gold, he also took the silver medal in both the madison and team pursuit. Howard also had success on the road in 2009, winning stages 1 and 3 of the

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 ...

. Howard become a professional rider in 2010 with . In his first professional race with team HTC Columbia, Howard won the fourth stage of the Tour of Oman. Impressively, Howard finished ahead of

Daniele Bennati Daniele Bennati (born 24 September 1980) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2019 for the , , , , , , and squads. Specialising in fast sprint finishes, Bennati turned professional in 2002, when ...

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 ...

and

Tyler Farrar Tyler may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tyler (name), an English name; with lists of people with the surname or given name * Tyler, the Creator (born 1991), American rap artist and producer * John Tyler, 10th president of the United ...

on the stage. After two years with the team, Howard moved to for the 2012 season. In November 2015 announced that Howard would join them for the 2016 season, with a role as part of the

sprint train A sprint train is a group of road bicycle racers who at the end of a race work together to set a high pace to keep their sprinter at the front of the race, discourage late attacks, and allow the sprinter to launch his or her sprint as late as ...

for

Matteo Pelucchi Matteo Pelucchi (born 21 January 1989) is an Italian former professional road cyclist, who last rode for UCI WorldTeam . He also competed in track cycling at a junior level. Career He rode for a year with in 2012, and four years with between 2 ...

. Howard last rode for UCI Continental team .

Major results

;2006 : 3rd

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, National Junior Road Championships ;2007 : Tour of Tasmania ::1st Stages 1, 4 & 7 : UIV Cup ::1st Amsterdam ::1st Dortmund ;2008 : National Track Championships ::1st MaillotAustralia

Team pursuit ::1st MaillotAustralia

Scratch : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Tour of the Murray River ::1st Stages 5 & 13 : 1st Coppa Colli Briantei Internazionale : UIV Cup ::1st Amsterdam ::1st Munich : Tour of Gippsland ::1st Stages 6 & 8 : Tour of Tasmania ::1st Stages 1 & 8 : 1st Stage 2 Australian Cycling Grand Prix : 10th Overall

Tour de Berlin The Tour de Berlin was a road bicycle race held annually between 1953 and 2016 in Germany. From 2007 to its demise, the race was organised as a 2.2U event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing com ...

::1st Stage 2 ;2009 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Omnium An omnium (from Latin '' Omni'': of all, belonging to all) is a multiple race event in track cycling. Historically the omnium has had a variety of formats. In recent years, road racing has also adopted the term to describe multi-day races that fe ...

UCI Track World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

: 1st

Overall Tour of Gippsland ::1st Stages 2, 3, 6 & 9 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Okolo Slovenska Okolo Slovenska ( en, Tour of Slovakia; french: Tour de Slovaquie) is an annual road cycling stage race in Slovakia. Founded in 1954, since 2017 it has been rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is a stage race that usually includes f ...

: 1st Classic Astico – Brenta :

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 1, 3 & 7 : 1st Stage 1

Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23 Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23 was a bicycle road race held annually in the German state of Thuringia. It was a stage race reserved to athletes under the age of 23. Since 2005, it was organized as a 2.2U event on the UCI Europe Tour. After the 201 ...

: 4th

Circuito del Porto The Circuito del Porto-Trofeo Arvedi is a professional one day cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the U ...

: 8th

Giro del Belvedere The Giro del Belvedere is a professional cycling race held annually in the Treviso province, Italy. It has been part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 20 ...

;2010 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

(with

Cameron Meyer Cameron Meyer (born 11 January 1988) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2009 to 2022. Career Born in Viveash, Western Australia, Meyer started cycling at the age of 13 in 2001 and first rep ...

) : 1st

Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen (Championship of Flanders) or Koolskamp Koerse is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Koolskamp (part-municipality of Ardooie), West Flanders, Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a ...

: 1st Stage 4

Tour of Oman The Tour of Oman is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Oman since 2010 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was scheduled to become part of the new UCI ProSeries in 2020, but both the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled d ...

: 1st Sprints classification

Bayern–Rundfahrt The International Bayern Rundfahrt ( en, Tour of Bavaria) was a stage race cycling race held each year in Bavaria, Germany, between 1980 and 2015. The race was held as an amateur race between 1980 and 1988, and from 2005 to 2015, the race was orga ...

;2011 : 1st Jersey rainbow

(with

) : 1st Stage 5

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 series ...

: 3rd

Trofeo Cala Millor The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or ear ...

: 4th

Grand Prix de Denain Grand Prix de Denain is a professional cycle road race held in Denain, France. For 10 years from 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions whi ...

;2012 : 1st Stage 2 ( TTT)

Eneco Tour The Benelux Tour (previously known as the Eneco Tour and the BinckBank Tour) is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the orig ...

: 3rd Overall

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after the S ...

::1st Stage 2 ;2013 : 1st Trofeo Campos–Santanyí–Ses Salines : 1st Trofeo Platja de Muro : 8th

Vuelta a La Rioja The Vuelta a La Rioja ( en, Tour of La Rioja) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race held in La Rioja. From 2005 to 2008, it was a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competi ...

;2014 : 5th

Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie The Gran Premio Nobili Rubinetterie was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Arona (NO), Arona, Italy between 1997 and 2015. It was held primarily as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2010 the GP was split ...

: 7th Overall

Tour of Alberta The ATB Tour of Alberta was a Canadian bicycle stage race, which raced across the province of Alberta. It was sanctioned by Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and was part of the UCI America Tour. It was classified as a 2.1 race, making it one ...

;2015 : 6th RideLondon–Surrey Classic ;2016 : 1st

Clásica de Almería The Clásica de Almería ( en, Classic of Almería) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February or March in Almería, Spain, starting and finishing in Almería itself. Established in 1986, the race was run as an amateur event in i ...

: 1st Stage 1

Tour des Fjords Tour des Fjords (known as the Rogaland Grand Prix until 2012) was a road bicycle race held annually between 2008 and 2018 in the region of western Norway. The race merged with the Tour of Norway The Tour of Norway is a road bicycle race held an ...

: 2nd

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race The Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race also known as Great Ocean Road Race or Cadel Road Race is an annual professional one-day road bicycle racing for both men and women starting and finishing in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and routed along th ...

;2018 : 1st Gold medal blank

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

: 2nd

Six Days of London The Six Day London is a six-day track cycling race held annually in London, United Kingdom. The competition consists of six consecutive evening sessions of track cycling: Madison, Sprint, Elimination, Keirin, Derny and Team Time Trial discipli ...

(with

) ;2021 : 3rd Bronze medal olympic

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* *
Leigh Howard – Biography
at the ''Australian Institute of Sport'' website {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Leigh 1989 births Living people Australian male cyclists UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Cyclists from Victoria (Australia) Australian Institute of Sport cyclists Cyclists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in cycling Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Australian track cyclists Olympic cyclists of Australia Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Olympic medalists in cycling 20th-century Australian people 21st-century Australian people Sportspeople from Geelong

Career

Major results

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

See also

References

External links