Olaf Ludwig (born 13 April 1960 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

racing cyclist. His career began at the

SG Dynamo Gera SG, Sg or sg may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * "SG" (song), a 2021 song by DJ Snake, Ozuna, Lisa, and Megan Thee Stallion * Gibson SG, an electric guitar manufactured by Gibson Guitar Corporation * SG Wannabe, a South Korean music gro ...

Sportvereinigung (SV) Dynamo The Sportvereinigung Dynamo () (''Dynamo Sports Association'') was the sport association of the security agencies (Volkspolizei, Ministry for State Security, fire department and customs) of former East Germany. The association was founded on 27 ...

. As an

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, he raced as an amateur until

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

allowed him to become professional with Panasonic team. As a sprinter, the highlight of his career was winning the points classification in the 1990

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 ...

. Other highlights include the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

road race in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

in 1988, a record 38 stage victories in 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 ...

, winning the Amstel Gold Race in 1992, and podium placings in the Paris–Roubaix. He also won the 1992 UCI Road World Cup. In 1992 he won the Champs Elysees stage in the Tour de France and won the third Tour stage of his career the following year. His sprinting rivals included

Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 pro ...

Wilfried Nelissen Wilfried Nelissen (Tongeren, 5 May 1970) is a former Belgian road racing cyclist, who specialised as a sprinter. He was involved in a crash at the end of stage 1 of the 1994 Tour de France, when he collided with a policeman. The incident also in ...

and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov. In 1993 he joined

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 infor ...

, later T-Mobile Team. On retirement in 1996 he took up public relations for the team. He subsequently became principal team manager, but his involvement with the team finished at the end of 2006.

Major results

;1978 : 1st Gold medal blank

Team time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships ;1981 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Niedersachsen-Rundfahrt ;1982 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

;1983 : 1st Jersey yellow

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 ...

;1986 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

;1988 : 1st Gold medal olympic

Road race,

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 ...

;1990 :

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 8 :

Tour de Trump 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 ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st, Stage 1, 2 & 9 ;1991 : 1st

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 ...

: 9th UCI Road World Rankings ;1992 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk (french: Quatre Jours de Dunkerque) is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been h ...

: 1st

UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long Road bicycle racing, road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 and comprising ten one-day events. History The competition was inaugurated in 1989, and replaced the Super Prestige Pernod Internati ...

: 1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne : 1st Amstel Gold Race : 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen : 1st Grand Prix de Fourmies : 1st Stage 21

: 2nd Paris–Roubaix : 5th UCI Road World Rankings ;1994 : 1st

Rund um den Henninger Turm Rund is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cathleen Rund (born 1977), German swimmer * Hanno Rund (1925–1993), German mathematician * Thorsten Rund (born 1976), German road and track cyclist See also * Rand (surname) * Ruud R ...

;1995 : 1st Veenendaal–Veenendaal ;1996 : 1st Stage 2

Vuelta a Andalucia Vuelta, Spanish for "lap" or "roundtrip", is used in the name of a number of cycling races in Spanish speaking countries, as well as a few other contexts: Cycling races * Vuelta a Andalucía * Vuelta a Aragón, Spain * Vuelta a Asturias, Spain * V ...

: 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 1 : 3rd Overall Three Days of De Panne ::1st Stage 1 : 3rd

Omloop Het Volk Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day Road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Nort ...

: 5th

: 8th

Books

Olaf Ludwig: ''Höllenritt auf der Himmelsleiter. Etappen meines Lebens.'' Herausgegeben von Helmut Wengel. RhinoVerlag, Arnstadt & Weimar 1997, (''german'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludwig, Olaf 1960 births Living people Sportspeople from Gera People from Bezirk Gera East German male cyclists German male cyclists Cyclists from Thuringia German Tour de France stage winners Tour de France Champs Elysées stage winners Olympic cyclists of East Germany Cyclists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for East Germany Olympic silver medalists for East Germany Olympic cyclists of Germany Olympic medalists in cycling Tour de Suisse stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Medalists at the 1980 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold UCI Road World Cup winners 20th-century German people