Jesper Skibby (born 21 March 1964 in

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

) is a retired professional road racing cyclist. He won at least one stage at each of the major tours. He was one of the most popular in Denmark, not only because of his talent, but also because of his wit and his constant banter. He rode for the Dutch TVM from 1989 to 1997, but switched to the Danish team Team home - Jack & Jones in 1998, where he ended his active career in 2000.

Professional career

He participated in

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

11 times, completed it 8 times, and won stage 5 between Avranches and Évreux in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

. He is one of the relatively few riders to have won stages in all three major tours (

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

and

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, 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'Ital ...

). In March 1993 Skibby suffered a double fracture of the skull during a crash in the bunch sprint of stage 5 of Tirreno–Adriatico, however he made a remarkable recovery and was back racing later that year. Skibby won the Tour of Holland stage race in 1994 after an epic breakaway on the last stage, as well as numerous individual stages in other races. In the 1987 Tour of Flanders, he was leading the race when his bike got driven over by a race director car climbing the Koppenberg, resulting in a deformed wheel. As a result, the Koppenberg got taken out of the route of the Tour of Flanders for 17 years before returning in 2004 with improved rider safety.

Personal life

In 2005 he participated in the television show ''Vild Med Dans'' (

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

). In August 2013 he participated in the television show Doping Epidemien (Doping Epidemics) where he told about the consequences of using doping for more than 10 years. His sister is Olympic cyclist Karina Skibby and his father is Olympic cyclist Willy Skibby.

Doping

In November 2006, he released his autobiography, in which he confesses to having used doping for more than 10 years. In 1991 he started using steroids, in 1992 growth hormones and testosterone, and in 1993 he was also using EPO. He claims that he requested the drugs himself, and he does not name any other riders or contacts in the book.

Major results

;1986 : 3rd Trofeo Baracchi : 5th

Grand Prix of Aargau Canton Grand Prix of Aargau Canton () 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 of Gippingen, which belongs to the municipa ...

;1987 : 1st Stage 1b Danmark Rundt : 9th Overall Tour Méditerranéen : 9th Scheldeprijs ;1988 : 1st Stage 5a Danmark Rundt : 2nd Grand Prix de la Libération : 4th

Grand Prix Pino Cerami Grand Prix Pino Cerami is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in Hainaut, Belgium. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before being cancelled from 2019 to 2022. Upon its return in 2 ...

;1989 : 1st Grand Prix de la Libération : 1st Stage 19

: 4th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico ;1990 : Tour de la Communauté Européenne ::1st Stages 3 & 10 ( ITT) : 7th

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

: 7th Paris–Brussels : 10th

;1991 :

::1st Stage 3 & 7 : 2nd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía : 5th Overall Ronde van Nederland : 6th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico ::1st Stage 7 : 6th

: 7th Overall Tour de Luxembourg : 7th Tour of Flanders ;1992 : 2nd Trofeo Luis Puig : 8th Tour of Flanders ;1993 : 1st Stage 5

: 2nd Wincanton Classic : 4th Giro di Campania : 6th

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

: 7th Overall Ronde van Nederland ::1st Stage 5 : 9th Overall Tour Méditerranéen : 9th

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 ...

;1994 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Ronde van Nederland ::1st Stage 5 : 1st Stage 4 Tirreno–Adriatico : Vuelta Asturias ::1st Stages 1 & 6 : 5th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens : 5th Coppa Sabatini : 6th Brabantse Pijl ;1995 : 1st Stage 9

: Danmark Rundt ::1st Stages 2 & 5 : 5th Amstel Gold Race : 6th Tour of Flanders : 9th

;1996 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd Clásica de Almería : 6th Overall Danmark Rundt ::1st Stage 4a : 7th Coppa Sabatini : 7th Coppa Placci : 10th Overall Ronde van Nederland ;1997 : 3rd Overall Danmark Rundt ;1998 : 1st Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen ;1999 : 1st

Circuito de Getxo The Circuito de Getxo () is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in July in Getxo Getxo () (Spanish: ''Guecho'') is a town located in the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country (autonomous community), Basq ...

: 1st Stage 5 Tour de Luxembourg : 2nd

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

, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall Tour Down Under : 2nd Overall Tour of Sweden ::1st Stage 3 : 2nd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with

Marc Streel Marc Streel (born 12 August 1971) is a Belgian former racing cyclist. Major results ;1993 :2nd Overall Tour de Liège ;1994 :3rd Duo Normand (with Peter Verbeken) ;1996 :1st Flèche Hesbignonne :1st Stage 3 Tour de Picardie :2nd Boucle de l'Arto ...

) : 4th Overall Tour du Limousin : 7th

GP Herning Grand Prix Herning is a one-day road bicycle race held in Midtjylland, Denmark. The race is organised by Herning Bicycle Club with both start and goal in Herning. The race is characterised by its gravel paths, which result in multiple punctur ...

;2000 : 7th Brabantse Pijl

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Official Tour de France results for Jesper Skibby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skibby, Jesper 1964 births Living people Danish male cyclists Danish sportspeople in doping cases Danish Tour de France stage winners Danish Giro d'Italia stage winners Doping cases in cycling Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Denmark Danish Vuelta a España stage winners Cyclists from Silkeborg 20th-century Danish sportsmen