Roel Paulissen (born 27 April 1976 in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ; la, Hasseletum, Hasselatum) is a Belgian city and municipality, and capital and largest city of the province of Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is known for its former branding as "the city of taste", as well as its ...

) is a Belgian former professional mountain biker. Throughout his sporting career since 1993, he has won more than ten Belgian national championship titles, mounted top-five finishes at both the European and World Cup series, and claimed a total of four medals, including two golds, in men's cross-country race at the

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are the world championship events for mountain bike racing in the disciplines of cross country, downhill, and four-cross. They are organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the governing ...

. Paulissen also represented his nation

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in four editions of the Olympic Games (1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008), where he competed in men's mountain biking since it officially became an Olympic sport in 1996. By the start of the 2010 season, Paulissen had been overshadowed by a doping issue after he tested positive for

clomiphene Clomifene, also known as clomiphene, is a medication used to treat infertility in women who do not ovulate, including those with polycystic ovary syndrome. Use results in a greater chance of twins. It is taken by mouth once a day, with a course ...

that sidelined and effectively ended his mountain biking career. Having lifted a two-year suspension from doping in early 2013, Paulissen came out from his short retirement to join and race professionally for the Italian team Torpado.

Racing career

Early years

Born and raised in

, Paulissen discovered and started cycling at the age of sixteen, when he purchased his first ever mountain bike. He took part in numerous regional and local races across Belgium, and soon joined the Ghislain Cycles Club by the following year. In the summer of 1994, Paulissen surprisingly earned his first trophy under the junior category at the Belgian Championships. Because of his exquisite talent and prowess in the sport, Paulissen offered a spot to train and race professionally for the Dutch team called the ''American Eagle'' two years later.

International career

Paulissen officially made his international debut for

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, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where he finished seventeenth in the inaugural men's cross-country race with a time of 2:33:53. At 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 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Paulissen could not match his best possible ride from Atlanta with a nineteenth-place effort in the same program, posting an official time of 2:16:54. In 2001, Paulissen became an elite professional rider by officially signing an exclusive, two-year sponsorship contract with Italy's Rainer Wurz MTB Team, and then capped off his season by mounting four top-ten finishes at the UCI World Cup series. With a sudden departure of his teammate and Olympic silver medalist

Filip Meirhaeghe Filip Meirhaeghe (born 5 March 1971"Rider Profile: Filip Meiraeghe"

because of a doping issue, Paulissen continued to refurnish and penetrate Belgium's cycling success by earning his first World Cup triumph in

Houffalize Houffalize (; german: Hohenfels; wa, Oufalijhe) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.Sven Vrielinck: De territoriale indeling van België 1795-1963 Volume 1. Universitaire Pers Leuven 2000. page 48 ...

, and a prestigious bronze medal in men's cross-country race at the 2003 UCI World Championships in

Lugano, Switzerland Lugano (, , ; lmo, label= Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Lugano has a populati ...

. Strong results landed him a place on the Siemens Mobile-Cannondale pro cycling team, followed by his short stint with Belgium's Jong Vlaanderen 2016 at the start of the 2004 season. While competing for his third Belgian squad at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Paulissen scored a career-high, fourth place in the men's cross-country race with a time of 2:18:10, finishing just off the podium by more than a minute. In that same year, Paulissen managed to earn another triumph on the second stage of the UCI World Cup series in

, and eventually edged out his teammate Meirhaeghe to take home the overall silver medal in the final round of the circuit. In 2005, Paulissen took a year off from mountain biking after he was suddenly stricken with rib injuries, fever, and acute

bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...

that prompted his decision to skip from the World Cup series and the Belgian Championships. In 2006, Paulissen left his team Jong Vlaanderen 2016 for health reasons and long absence to join the Netherlands' Cannondale-Vredestein. He also capped his successful season by collecting the bronze medal in men's marathon race at the

UCI World Championships 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 ...

Oisans L'Oisans () is a region in the French Alps, located in the départements of l'Isère and Hautes-Alpes, and corresponding to the drainage basin of the River Romanche and its tributaries (Eau d'Olle, Lignarre, Sarenne, Vénéon and Ferrand). Betw ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. A year later, Paulissen continued to flourish his ample success in mountain biking by reclaiming the Belgian national championship title, and later adding a silver to his career hardware at the UCI World Championships in

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also the ...

, trailing behind Switzerland's Christoph Sauser by more than five minutes. Paulissen won his first Absa

Cape Epic The Absa Cape Epic, founded by Kevin Vermaak and also known as the Cape Epic, is an annual mountain bike stage race held in the Western Cape, South Africa. First staged in 2004, it has been accredited as ''hors catégorie'' (beyond categoriza ...

in 2005 with team member Bart Brentjens. He then came back again in 2007 with new partner

Jakob Fuglsang Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (born 22 March 1985) is a Danish professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Before turning professional for , he was a mountain biker racing for Team Cannondale–Vredestein, winning the Under ...

, placing 2nd place overall. The team then competed in the marathon stage race again in 2008, this time claiming 1st place after 2 stage wins.

2008 season

Paulissen started his 2008 season by defending the men's cross-country race title at the Belgian Championships and by taking part in the Roc d'Azur MTB Marathon tournament, where he registered two more triumphs in the process. In July, Paulissen grabbed his first major success in men's marathon race at the

in Villabassa under a more controversial decision. With only 70 meters left to go, Paulissen held off a sprint duel match against Switzerland's Christoph Sauser for a spectacular finish, until they suddenly made contact with their handlebars and arms near the barrier and then both crashed. Being the first man up after hitting the tarmac hard, Paulissen reluctantly carried his broken bike towards the finish, while his rival Sauser remounted his lead to cross the line first, but ended his campaign with a protest. After the race, the UCI officials decided that Sauser was relegated to second place for riding "dangerously" in the sprint and instead Paulissen was declared the World champion with a time of 4:46:56. Following his controversial triumph, Paulissen admitted, "I am very happy with this success. Unfortunately, this great race in the area where I live ended this way, but I think the jury was right." Twelve years after his official Olympic debut, Paulissen qualified for his fourth Belgian squad, as a 32-year-old and a cycling team captain, in the men's cross-country race at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

by receiving one of the nation's three available berths for his team from the

Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...

(UCI), based on his top-ten performance at the World Cup series, World Championships, and Mountain Biking World Series. He successfully completed a 4.8-km sturdy, treacherous cross-country course with a nineteenth-place effort in 2:03:30, radically shortening his chances to climb the Olympic podium on his fourth bid.

Post-Olympics

Paulissen started the 2009 season by claiming his tenth Belgian national championship title, and by signing an exclusive, two-year sponsorship contract with Germany's Cannondale Factory Racing pro team. He also defended his men's marathon race title and rainbow jersey at the

Graz, Austria Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popula ...

with a time of 4:34:46, edging out the home nation's Alban Lakata on another tight, sprinted duel match by fifty-one seconds. On 16 July 2010 Paulissen had been overshadowed by a doping issue after he tested positive for a banned hormone substance

, mainly used to avert infertility problems. Breaching the team's clear anti-doping policies, Cannondale Factory Racing team had decided to end its sponsorship with Paulissen and consequently drop him off the roster. Moreover, he ordered a two-year suspension from the

(UCI) for failing the doping test, missing a chance to defend his Belgian national championship title and pursue for his fifth Olympic bid. With an immediate effect from an issue, Paulissen shortly and suddenly ended his sporting career. Having lifted a two-year doping suspension in November 2012, Paulissen announced his official comeback from a short retirement to join and ride for Italy's Torpado Surfing Shop Team at the start of the 2013 season.

Career achievements

;1996 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country, U23), Belgium : 17th

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 ...

(

Cross-country Cross country or cross-country may refer to: Places * Cross Country, Baltimore, a neighborhood in northwest Baltimore, Maryland * Cross County Parkway, an east–west parkway in Westchester County, NY * Cross County Shopping Center, a mall in Yo ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, (USA) ;1998 :

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

(Cross-country, U23), Belgium :

(Cross-country, U23), Switzerland ;1999 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country, U23), Belgium : 4th UCI World Championships (Cross-country, U23), Sweden ;2000 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country), Belgium : European Championships (Cross-country), Netherlands : 19th

(

, (AUS) ;2001 : 2nd Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country), Belgium : UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

Kaprun Kaprun () is a municipality in the Zell am See District in the state of Salzburg, Austria. The town is a tourist destination known as "Zell am See-Kaprun" with the neighbouring Zell am See and known for the glacier Kitzsteinhorn. Geography It is ...

(AUT) ;2002 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country), Belgium : UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

(BEL) : European Championships (Cross-country),

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

(SUI) : UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

(ESP) ;2003 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country), Belgium : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall, Grouse Mountain Bike, Canada : UCI World Championships (Cross-country),

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

(SUI) ;2004 : 2nd Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country), Belgium : Overall, UCI World Cup (Cross-country) :: Stage 2,

(BEL) & Stage 3,

Livigno Livigno (; local lmo, Livígn ; german: Luwin) is a town, ''comune'' and a special-administered territory in the province of Sondrio, in the region of Lombardy, Italy, located in the Italian Alps, near the Swiss border. History Livigno's firs ...

(ITA) :: Stage 1,

(ESP) : 3rd Alpago Trophy,

Chies d'Alpago Chies d'Alpago is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about east of Belluno. Chies d'Alpago borders the following municipalities: Barcis, Claut, Pieve d'Alpag ...

(ITA) : 4th

(

, (GRE) ;2005 : 1st

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

(RSA) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall, Roc d'Azur (Marathon), France : Stage 1, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

Spa Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has held ...

(BEL) : Stage 6, UCI World Cup (Cross-country), Santa Catarina (BRA) ;2006 : 1st Stage 2, Sunshine Cup,

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

: 3rd Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country),

Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne, ...

(BEL) :

(Marathon),

(FRA) : 4th Stage 1, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

(AHO) : 5th Stage 2, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

(ESP) : 5th Stage 3, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

(BEL) ;2007 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country), Belgium : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Marathon),

Eijsden Eijsden (; li, Èèsjde ) is a village situated in the very south of the European country the Netherlands. It is located in the southwestern part of the province of Limburg. Until 1 January 2011, Eijsden was the main village in a municipality ...

(NED) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall, Afxentia Stage Race, Cyprus :: 2nd Stage 1 & 3 :: 3rd Stage 2 : 2nd Overall Absa

(Marathon) : UCI World Championships (Marathon),

(BEL) : 4th Overall, UCI World Cup (Cross-country) :: Stage 3,

Champéry Champéry (; frp, Champérié) is a municipality in the district of Monthey in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Champéry is first mentioned in 1286 as ''Champery'' The Hotel Dent-du-Midi opened in 1857. In 1969, Champéry becam ...

(SUI) :: 4th Stage 4,

(BEL) :: 5th Stage 2,

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

(SLO) ;2008 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country),

Malmedy Malmedy (; german: Malmünd, ; wa, Måmdiy) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Malmedy had a total population of 12,654. The total area is 99.96 km2 which gives a populati ...

(BEL) : 1st

Roc d'Azur Roc d'Azur is an annual mountain biking event held in Fréjus and Roquebrune-sur-Argens, France during October. It consists of a trade show A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organ ...

(Cross-country & marathon), France : 1st Jersey polkadot

Mountain, Sunshine Cup, Voroklini (CYP) : Jersey rainbow

UCI World Championships (Marathon), Villabassa (ITA) : 1st Stage 1, Afxentia Stage Race, Cyprus : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Absa

(Marathon) : 2nd Stage 3, Afxentia Stage Race, Cyprus : 7th UCI World Championships (Cross-country),

Val di Sole Val may refer to: Val-a Film * ''Val'' (film), an American documentary about Val Kilmer, directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo Military equipment * Aichi D3A, a Japanese World War II dive bomber codenamed "Val" by the Allies * AS Val, a Sov ...

(ITA) : 7th Stage 8, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

(AUS) : 8th Stage 1, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

(BEL) : 12th Stage 4, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

Vallnord Vallnord () is a ski/snowboard resort in the Pyrenees mountains in the country of Andorra, close to the border with Spain at Tor, Pallars. Overview It encompasses the linked sectors of Pal and Arinsal (the sectors were linked by a cable car, op ...

(AND) : 19th

(

(CHN) : 22nd Stage 5, UCI World Cup (Cross-country), Fort William (GBR) ;2009 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Cross-country), Belgium : Jersey rainbow

UCI World Championships (Marathon),

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

(AUT) ;2010 : 1st Stage 3, Belgacom Grand Prix,

(BEL) : 6th Stage 4, Belgacom Grand Prix, Averbode (BEL) : 12th Stage 3, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

Offenburg Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...

(GER) : 14th Stage 2, UCI World Cup (Cross-country),

(BEL) ;2013 : 2nd Belgian MTB Championships (Marathon), Belgium : 12th Roc d'Azur (Marathon), France : 19th UCI World Championships (Marathon), Kirchberg (AUT) ;2017 : 1st MaillotBélgica

Belgian MTB Championships (Marathon), Belgium

References

External links

*
NBC 2008 Olympics profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulissen, Roel 1976 births Living people Belgian male cyclists Cross-country mountain bikers Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Belgium UCI Mountain Bike World Champions (men) Sportspeople from Hasselt Cyclists from Limburg (Belgium) Cape Epic winners