Leopold König (born 15 November 1987) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

former professional road cyclist, who rode professionally between 2006 and 2019 for the , , and teams. Since retiring, he has acted as the race director for the

Czech Cycling Tour The Czech Cycling Tour is a multi-day road cycling race held annually in the Olomouc region in the Czech Republic. It was created in 2010 and was initially part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

and the

Course de la Paix U23 – Grand Prix Jeseníky The Course de la Paix U23 – Grand Prix Jeseníky is a multi-day road cycling race held annually in the Czech Republic. It is part of the UCI Europe Tour in category 2.ncup, meaning it is part of the UCI Under 23 Nations' Cup The UCI Under 23 N ...

Career

Early career

Born in the small Czech town of

Moravská Třebová Moravská Třebová (; german: Mährisch Trübau) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,700 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monume ...

, east of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, König as a child played

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

, using his bike solely for fitness until he started road racing at the age of 14.

Team NetApp (2011–2014)

König was a stage winner in Caerphilly in September 2012 at the

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 ...

and in May 2013, he won the

queen stage This is a glossary of terms and jargon used in cycling, mountain biking, and cycle sport. For ''parts of a bicycle'', see List of bicycle parts. 0–9 ; 27.5 Mountain bike: A mountain bike with wheels that are approximately in diameter and a ...

of the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the t ...

finishing atop

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most of ...

. König detached himself from a small group in the final kilometers and caught Janier Acevedo, dropping him with only to go. However both these wins were eclipsed in August 2013 when he claimed his team's maiden

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 tu ...

victory by winning a mountain stage to Alto Peñas Blancas 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 ...

after catching climber

Igor Antón Igor Antón Hernández (born 2 March 1983) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the , and squads. Career Born in Galdakao, Basque Country, Antón's first major achievement a ...

in the final 500 metres. König took part in his first

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 consist ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, finishing seventh overall after rising two places from ninth by placing fifth in the final time trial.

Team Sky (2015–2016)

König signed for for the 2015 season. König achieved his first podium place for the team, scoring third place at the

Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana 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 ...

. In the Giro d'Italia, he took over the leadership role as his leader

Richie Porte Richard Julian Porte (born 30 January 1985) is an Australian professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His successes include wins at 8 World Tour stage races: Paris–Nice in 2013 and 2015, the Volta a Catalunya in ...

suffered a massive loss of time and ultimately withdrew. On Stage 16 featuring the

Mortirolo Pass The Mortirolo Pass ( it, Passo del Mortirolo) (el. 1852 m.) is a high mountain pass in the Alps in Italy. Also known as Passo della Foppa, it connects Mazzo di Valtellina (province of Sondrio) and Val Camonica (province of Brescia). T ...

, König was docked 10 seconds for holding onto cars. König performed well in the final stages but not well enough to secure a top 5 finish, finishing 6th overall.

Bora–Hansgrohe (2017–2019)

After two years with , König returned to his former team – now known as – on a three-year contract. In the first half of the 2017 season, König only competed in two races due to injury.

Major results

Source: ;2005 : 7th Overall

Giro della Lunigiana Giro della Lunigiana is a four-day road bicycle race for junior men (age 17 and 18) in the historical territory Lunigiana (currently the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara), Italy. The race, class 2.1 MJ on the UCI calendar, counts as a bi ...

;2007 : 9th 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 ...

;2009 : 6th Grand Prix Kooperativa : 9th Grand Prix Boka ;2010 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Oberösterreich Rundfahrt The Oberösterreichrundfahrt is a cycling race held annually in the Austrian state Upper Austria. It was created in 2010 and is part of the UCI Europe Tour as a category 2.2 The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world's governing body in ...

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 1st Stage 3

Tour of Bulgaria The Tour of Bulgaria is an annual international professional bicycle race held in Bulgaria that was first staged on 21 August 1924. It is part of UCI Europe Tour and is category 2.2. The race covers about 1,500 kilometres and lasts two weeks. A ...

: 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 Road Championships : 3rd Prague–Karlovy Vary–Prague : 5th Overall

Szlakiem Grodów Piastowskich The Szlakiem Grodów Piastowskich, officially known as the CCC Tour - Grody Piastowskie, is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It was first held in 1966 and since 2005, it has been organised as a ...

;2011 : 2nd

Road race Road racing, road race of road racer may refer to: * Road racing in motorsport * Road running on foot * Road bicycle racing * ''Road Race'', initial name of 1976 arcade game ''Fonz'' (video game) * Roadracers (1994 film) * Roadracers (1959 fi ...

, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall

Tour of Austria The Tour of Austria (german: Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt) is a stage cycling race held in Austria. From 1949 to 1995 it was a race for amateur cyclists, turning into a professional event in 1996. In 2005 and 2006 it was organised as a 2 ...

::1st

Young rider classification : 3rd Overall

Tour de l'Ain Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional cycling stage race held in eastern France. G.P. de l'Amitié The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.). It was held over f ...

: 9th Overall

;2012 : 1st Stage 2b ( TTT)

Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali The Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ( en, International Week of Coppi and Bartali), also known as Coppi e Bartali, is an Italian cycle road race. It is run typically in late March over five days in the Emilia-Romagna region of Ital ...

: 3rd Overall

Tour of Utah 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 ...

: 6th

Grand Prix of Aargau Canton Grand Prix of Aargau Canton (german: Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau) 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 ...

: 10th Overall

::1st Stage 6 ;2013 : 1st Jersey pink

Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 1st Stage 7

: 6th Overall

: 9th Overall

::1st Stage 8 ;2014 : 4th Overall

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 ...

: 7th Overall

;2015 : National Road Championships ::2nd

::2nd

: 3rd Overall

Giro del Trentino The Tour of the Alps is an annual professional cycling stage race in Italy and Austria. First held in 1962, it was named Giro del Trentino ( en, Tour of Trentino) until 2016, and run over four stages in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region o ...

: 3rd

: 5th Trofeo Andratx-Mirador d'Es Colomer : 6th Overall Giro d'Italia : 8th Overall

Abu Dhabi Tour The Abu Dhabi Tour was a men's cycling stage race that took place in the United Arab Emirates, held annually between 2015 and 2018. In 2019 The Abu Dhabi Tour merged with the Dubai Tour to become the UAE Tour. History When inaugurated, it was p ...

: 10th Overall

::1st Stage 3 ;2016 : 1st MaillotRepúblicaCheca

, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

: 9th Trofeo Pollenca-Port de Andratx : 10th Overall

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is ofte ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Konig, Leopold 1987 births Living people Czech male cyclists Czech Vuelta a España stage winners People from Moravská Třebová Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of the Czech Republic Sportspeople from the Pardubice Region