Marcel Wüst (born 6 August 1967) is a German former

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 ...

. He won stages in all of the three

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

; twelve stages in 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 ...

, one stage in the

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 ...

and a stage in the Giro d'Italia. In 2000, a crash left him without sight in one eye and prematurely ended his professional career. In 2002 and 2003, Wüst worked as a team manager for

Team Coast Team Bianchi was a makeshift team that was put together from the remnants of the Coast team in time for the 2003 Tour de France. Team Coast had been unable to pay the salaries of their riders and Bianchi took over the team and the role of tit ...

. He also had a career as an analyst in broadcasting until 2008.

Early life and family

Wüst was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. He got his first taste for cycling when his family visited the

1973 Tour de France The 1973 Tour de France was the 60th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between 30 June and 22 July, with 20 stages covering a distance of . Eddy Merckx, winner of the previous four editions, did not start ...

during vacation in France. He received his first racing bike at the age of ten, in 1977, before joining the local cycling club a year later. In 1984, Wüst won the opening stage of a stage race in Luxembourg. Three years later, he and fellow Cologne-based cyclist Heike Gasel became a couple. They married in January 1990. The two have a son, Alexander, who was born in 1998. Wüst spends three months a year in his elected second home,

Noosa The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it was ...

, Australia, while remaining a resident of his native Cologne.

Cycling career

In mid-1988, Wüst turned professional with the French RMO team, taking part in that year's edition of

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m, ...

, where he won the first intermediate sprint. His first victory in the professional field came at the Ronde des Pyrenees in 1989. In 1990, he won three races and took part in his first

Grand Tour The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tuto ...

, the Giro d'Italia. The following year, he started the

, but was forced to retire with intestinal problems after having held the point leader's jersey for a while. In 1992, he rode his first

, but retired with a broken collarbone on the first stage in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

. This gave him the unfortunate honour of being the first rider in the history of the race not to reach French soil. For 1993, Wüst moved to the French team Novemail–Histor. Disillusioned with the lack of professionalism in the squad, he left for the

Le Groupement Le Groupement was a French cycling team that existed from the beginning of the 1995 season until a week before the start of that year's Tour de France in June 1995. Financial difficulties and allegations of a pyramid scheme against its main sp ...

team in 1995, only for the team to fold for financial reasons. He switched over to the Spanish Castellblanch team and started in the

, where he won three stages. He remained with the team for 1996, winning a stage in the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of th ...

and two in the

Tour DuPont The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestige ...

. However, differences of opinion with the team's management led to Wüst signing with

Festina Festina F16184 Festina is a Spanish watch brand. In 1985, businessman Miguel Rodríguez acquired Festina, a brand founded in Switzerland in 1902, thus forming the ''Festina-Lotus group.'' History Festina was created in 1902 by the Stüdi f ...

for 1997. With his new team, he won a stage at the

1997 Giro d'Italia The 1997 Giro d'Italia was the 80th edition of the Giro. It began on 17 May with a mass-start stage that began and ended in Venice. The race came to a close on 8 June with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Eighteen t ...

and three stages of the

1997 Vuelta a España The 52nd edition of the ''Vuelta a España'' (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 6 September to 28 September 1997. It consisted of 22 stages covering a total of , and was won by Alex ...

. A year later, with the team still embroiled in the

Festina affair The Festina affair was a series of doping scandals within the sport of professional cycling that occurred during and after the 1998 Tour de France. The affair began when a large haul of doping products was found in a support car belonging to ...

, Wüst again took two stage wins during that year's Vuelta a España. He was set to compete in the

1999 Tour de France The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-D ...

, but a broken collarbone in a pre-Tour

criterium A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time ...

race ruled him out. Instead, he once more started the

, this time taking four stage wins. Even with his frequent victories, Wüst remained largely anonymous in his native Germany because he was riding for foreign squads as opposed to the popular

Team Telekom 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 info ...

. He moved into the public eye in 2000, when he started his second-ever

. The race began with an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

Futuroscope Futuroscope, or Parc du Futuroscope (), formerly known as Planète Futuroscope, is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques. It has several 3D cinemas and a few 4D cinemas along with ...

, which included a categorized climb. Wüst chose to go specifically for the point available for the fastest up the climb and managed to pull over the polka-dot jersey for the best climber at the end of the day, wearing it for the first days of the Tour. On stage five, he beat out his sprinting rivals to take the victory at Vitré. He eventually abandoned the Tour nine stages from the finish in Paris due to a bronchitis. After the Tour, on 11 August 2000, Wüst took part in the Criterium d'Issoire to prepare for the upcoming

. Here, he collided with

Jean-Michel Thilloy Jean-Michel is a French masculine given name. It may refer to : * Jean-Michel Arnold, General Secretary of the Cinémathèque Française * Jean-Michel Atlan (1913–1960), French artist * Jean-Michel Aulas (born 1949), French businessman * Jean-Mic ...

while competing for an intermediate sprint at . Upon impact, he hit a sharp object, presumably the foot of a road barrier, head-on. He suffered severe injuries to his head, especially his right eye socket. He was treated in a clinic in

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...

and was soon out of mortal danger, but lost sight in his right eye. His team honoured his existing contract into 2001, but with his vision severely impaired, Wüst decided to retire from professional cycling.

Doping allegations

Following the Festina affair, which uncovered widespread use of doping on his team, Wüst was rumoured to have been using performance-enhancing drugs as well. He repeatedly denied these accusations. However, when

Willy Voet Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and scre ...

, the team's ''

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

'', released a book about the affair in 1999, printed diary entries suggested that Wüst had injected

erythropoietin Erythropoietin (; EPO), also known as erythropoetin, haematopoietin, or haemopoietin, is a glycoprotein cytokine secreted mainly by the kidneys in response to cellular hypoxia; it stimulates red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) in the bo ...

(EPO) six times in January and February 1997. In his defence, Wüst pointed to his

hematocrit The hematocrit () (Ht or HCT), also known by several other names, is the volume percentage (vol%) of red blood cells (RBCs) in blood, measured as part of a blood test. The measurement depends on the number and size of red blood cells. It is norm ...

level from mid-January of that year, which showed a level of 43.3, well below values usually considered an indication of EPO use.

Post-cycling career

After his retirement, Wüst joined

as a ''

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' ( French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

''. When the team folded in mid-2003 for financial problems after the signing of

Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crow ...

, he did not join the subsequent Team Bianchi, founded from the remainders of Coast. He worked as an analyst during cycling coverage for German TV station ARD. In this position, he was fired by ARD in 2007, after the broadcaster decided not to use former cyclists in their coverage in the wake of doping revelations at the Telekom team. He returned in 2008, but ARD decided not to continue its broadcast of the Tour de France after that year. On 1 April 2017, Wüst was elected into the office of vice-president, responsible for marketing and communication, of the '' Bund Deutscher Radfahrer'', the German cycling federation.

Major results

Sources: ;1986 : 1st National Junior Road race Championship ;1988 : 1st

Grand Prix de Waregem The Grand Prix Waregem was a cycling race held annually in Belgium. It was part of UCI Europe Tour in category 1.2U from 2005 to 2007. The race was considered to be the Under 23 version of Dwars door Vlaanderen Dwars door Vlaanderen ''( en, Ac ...

: 1st Stage 3 Tour du Loir et Cher Am : 1st Stage 7

Giro della Valle d'Aosta Giro della Valle d'Aosta is a stage race road bicycle race held annually in August in Aosta Valley, Italy. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing c ...

: 8th

GP de la Ville de Rennes Grand Prix Cycliste de la Ville de Rennes was a professional cycle road race held in Rennes, France until 2008 when it was last organised, with the organisers citing financial difficulties as the reason. Since 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 ...

;1989 : 1st Tour de Midi-Pyrénées : 1st Stage 3a

Tour de Picardie The Tour de Picardie was a professional multi-stage cycle road race that was held between 1936 and 2016 in Picardy, France. In its last twelve editions, it was organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a se ...

: 1st Stage 4b

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Hou ...

: 3rd

Brussels Cycling Classic The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur even ...

: 4th Cholet-Pays de la Loire : 8th

: 8th ( TTT) Grand Prix de la Libération : 10th Overall

Route Adélie Route Adélie de Vitré is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in a circuit around Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, Vitré, France. Between 1980 and 1995 it was called ''Tour d'Armorique''. Since 2005, the race is organized as a UCI ra ...

;1990 : 1st Stage 2

: 1st Stage 2b

Paris–Bourges Paris–Bourges is a French road bicycle race. The race originally started in Paris and ran to the town of Bourges in the Région Centre. However, in recent year with the length of races shortened it has become impossible to link the two cities a ...

: 1st Stage 6 ( ITT)

Vuelta a Burgos Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In 2019, a multi-day wo ...

;1991 : 1st Stages 1 & 3 La Route du Sud : 1st Stage 3

Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a road bicycle race held annually in the former region of Poitou-Charentes (now Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

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 ...

::1st Sprint classification ::1st Stages 1, 11 & 14 : 1st Stages 6 & 8

Audax Alpine Classic The Alpine Classic (formerly Audax Alpine Classic) is an Australian bicycle event run every Australia Day weekend (late January) in Bright, Victoria. The event is currently managed by O2 Events, having previously been organised by Audax Australi ...

: 5th

E3 Prijs Vlaanderen E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 kil ...

: 5th

Rund um Köln The Rund um Köln is a classic cycling race around the German city of Cologne. Since 2005 it is part of the UCI Europe Tour, being organised as 1.1 race (in 2007 the race was categorised as 1.HC). It is one of the oldest cycling races still runn ...

: 6th

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road cycling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Belgian cycling season. ...

;1992 : 1st Stages 1, 3, 4 & 6 La Route du Sud : 1st Stage 5

Grand Prix du Midi Libre The Grand Prix du Midi Libre (referred to as just Midi Libre) was a multiple-stage road cycling course in the south of France. The race, named after the newspaper that organized it, was first organized in 1949 and was an important preparation cou ...

: 1st Stages 4a, 6a & 10

: 1st Stages 1, 5 & 8

: 1st Points classification

Classic Brugge–De Panne The Classic Brugge–De Panne is a road cycling race in Belgium in late March. Since 2018 it is raced over two days with a men's race on Wednesday and a women's race on Thursday. Both races start in Bruges and finish in the seaside resort of De Pa ...

: 2nd

Grand Prix du Morbihan Grand Prix du Morbihan is a single-day men's road bicycle race held annually in May around Plumelec, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2020, the race is organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.Pro event on the UCI ProSeries, also being p ...

: 6th

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 ...

: 10th Overall

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents ...

::1st Points classification ::1st Stage 1 : 10th

Dwars door België Dwars door Vlaanderen ''( en, Across Flanders)'' is a semi-classic road bicycle race in Belgium, held annually since 1945. The race starts in Roeselare and finishes in Waregem, both in West Flanders. Since 2017 the event is included in the UCI W ...

;1993 : 1st

: 1st

Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan Grand Prix du Morbihan is a single-day men's road bicycle race held annually in May around Plumelec, in the region of Brittany, France. Since 2020, the race is organised as a 1.Pro event on the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tie ...

: 1st Stage 2

::1st Mountain classification ::1st Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 7b : 1st Sprint classification

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia ( en, Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, due ...

: 2nd

Binche–Chimay–Binche Binche–Chimay–Binche (also known as Memorial Frank Vandenbroucke) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually between Binche and Chimay, in Wallonia, Belgium. The race is rated as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was origin ...

: 3rd

: 5th

Paris–Camembert Paris–Camembert (also Paris–Camembert Trophée Lepetit or Paris–Camembert Lepetit) is a semi classic held annually in April. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The route of the race has varied over th ...

: 7th

Tour de Vendée Tour of Vendée is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in October (Previously May) in the region of Vendée, France, finishing in a circuit inside La Roche-sur-Yon town. From 2005 until 2009, the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the ...

;1994 : 1st Stage 1 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré : 1st Sprint classification

: 3rd Overall

::1st Points classification ::1st Stage 1 ;1995 : 1st Stages 4, 14, 21

: 1st Stage 2 Quatre Jours de l'Aisne : 1st Stage 6

Clásico RCN The Clásico RCN (Spanish for ''RCN Classic'') is an annual cycling road race that takes place over many stages through different regions of Colombia during October. It is organized by the Colombian Cycling Federation. The event is sponsored b ...

::1st Mountain classification : 1st Stage 7 ;1996 : 1st Stages 3a & 11

: 1st Stage 4

Vuelta a Castilla y León The Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León is a professional road bicycle stage race held in Castile and León, Spain. Since 2005, Vuelta a Castilla y León has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bi ...

::1st Points classification ::1st Stage 7 :

Vuelta Ciclista 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 ...

::1st Points classification ::1st Sprints classification ::1st Stages 1a & 3 ;1997 : 1st Stages 2, 3 & 5

: 1st Stage 7 Giro d'Italia : 1st Stage 4 La Route du Sud :

::1st Points classification ::1st Stage 5 : 7th Hennesee Rundfahrt : 8th

: 10th

Vuelta a Mallorca 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 earl ...

;1998 : 1st Stages 14 & 17

: 1st Stage 2

: 1st Stage 3

: 1st

Circuito de Getxo The Circuito de Getxo ( en, Getxo Circuit) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in July in Getxo, Spain. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle ...

: 3rd Overall

Vuelta Ciclista de Chile The Vuelta Ciclista de Chile is an annual Chilean elite men's professional road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility ...

::1st Stages 1, 6, 7, 8, 10 & 11 : 4th

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 ...

;1999 :

::1st Stages 2, 3, 4 & 7 ::Held After stages 3 & 4 ::Held After stages 3–16 : 1st Stage 1

Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme The Catalan Cycling Week (''Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme'' in Catalan) was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in Catalonia, Spain. Held annually from 1963 until 2005, it was run as a 2.HC race on the UCI Europe Tour in the second half of March. ...

Vuelta a Aragón Vuelta a Aragón is a professional bicycle road race held in Spain in May of each year. The event was first run in 1939, and was not held between 2006 and 2017. The future of the race is uncertain; there had been plans to organise it again, but an ...

::1st Points classification ::1st Stages 2 & 5 : 1st Stage 4

Tour of Galicia Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

: 1st Stage 5

: 1st Stages 10 & 14 Commonwealth Classic : 5th

Trofeo Luis Puig The Trofeo Luis Puig is a single-day road bicycle race held in Valencian Community, Spain. Originally named the Gran Premio Valencia, it was held annually (except for 1980) from the first edition in 1969 until 2005, in which year it was promoted ...

;2000 : 1st Stage 5

: 1st Stages 1, 2, 3, 5

: 1st Stage 6

Deutschland Tour The Deutschland Tour (English: ''Tour of Germany'' and sometimes ''Deutschland-Rundfahrt'' in German) is the most important multi-stage road bicycle race in Germany. Initially the race was held in May/June, but from 2005 until 2008 it was moved to ...

: 1st Stage 1

: 2nd

Grand Prix de Rennes Grand Prix Cycliste de la Ville de Rennes was a professional cycle road race held in Rennes, France until 2008 when it was last organised, with the organisers citing financial difficulties as the reason. Since 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 ...

: 5th Trofeo Palma : 9th

Philadelphia International Cycling Classic The Philadelphia International Championship was an annual bicycle race held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was described as "America's top international cycling classic, and one of the richest and most prestigious one day races outside of Euro ...

Grand Tour results timeline

References

External links

* *
Book Review: Marcel Wüst – Sprinter Years
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wust, Marcel 1967 births German male cyclists Living people German Tour de France stage winners German Vuelta a España stage winners German Giro d'Italia stage winners Cyclists from Cologne Vuelta Ciclista de Chile stage winners