Nicki Sørensen (born 14 May 1975) is a Danish former professional

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 com ...

, and was

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

team and . He competed in five consecutive editions of the

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 ...

from 2001 to 2005. Riding as an all-round rider who rode well in hilly terrain, Sørensen was a valued support for the team leader without many wins of his own.

Biography

Sørensen Sørensen () is a Danish- Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Søren" (given name equivalent of Severin). , it is the eighth most common surname in Denmark. Immigrants to English-speaking countries often changed the spelling to ''Sorense ...

only started his cycling career at the age of 19, having been a runner before that. He became a professional

in 1999 for team Team Chicky World. After the team closed down, Sørensen switched to another Denmark based team, Team Fakta where he made a good name for himself on the Danish stage as one of the strongest cards of Team Fakta, securing himself a place on the Danish team for the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Before the 2001 season, Sørensen was on the verge of joining British Linda McCartney Racing Team but instead opted to stay in Denmark with Team CSC – World Online, as Team Saxo Bank was then known. In his first year with the team he participated in the

2001 Tour de France The 2001 Tour de France was a race stage, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race held from 7 to 29 July, and the 88th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the eve ...

where he got a taste of success with a fourth place on stage 16. After then, Sørensen was a consistent part of the Tour setup for Team CSC, riding the biggest race in the cycling calendar every year from 2001 to 2005, his highlights including the overall GC rank of 20th in 2002. Another highlight was Sørensen's instrumental role in team captain

Tyler Hamilton Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cycl ...

's win on stage 16 of the

2003 Tour de France The 2003 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 5 to 27 July, and the 90th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti- ...

when Sørensen, who was in a break away, sacrificed his own chances in order to pull Hamilton and thereby allow Tyler Hamilton to conserve the strength needed to win on the day. Nicki Sørensen started the 2005 season on a high note with a win in GP d'Ouverture la Marseillaise and a fourth place in

Tour Méditerranéen 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 ...

during February, and during the season he prolonged his contract with Team CSC until 2007. In September Nicki Sørensen clinched stage 18 of the

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 ...

after defeating Pascual Rodriguez in the sprint. On 16 July 2009, Sørensen won Stage 12 of the

2009 Tour de France The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco. The race visite ...

. He was in an early breakaway with five other riders and attacked the small group with 20 km to cover to win solo. Sørensen retired after riding the 2014 Giro di Lombardia. The last victory of his career was the 2012

Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli The Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli (also known as GP Beghelli) is a late season men's road bicycle race held annually in Monteveglio, near the city of Bologna, Italy. From 2005 to 2013, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe T ...

Team management

After his retirement he remained with as a

and coach. For the 2016 season he moved across to the Israeli Cycling Academy Team. In October 2016 the new team announced that Sørensen would join them as a sports director for their inaugural season in 2017. Aqua Blue Sport folded at the end of 2018. From the beginning of 2019 he joined as new sports director. In October 2019 he extended his contract with the team that had just become a

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ranking system based upon perfor ...

team. In November 2022 it was announced that Sørensen would leave the team at the end of 2022.

Doping

In June 2015 prior to Anti Doping Denmark report he admitted to drug use in early part of his career.

Major results

;1999 : 1st Lemvig Løbet : 1st Stage 4

Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt The International Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt was a stage race, multi-stage road bicycle racing, road bicycle race held in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. In the years from 1966 to 2007, it was considered one of the biggest sporting events in Rhine ...

;2000 : 1st Lemvig-Holstebro-Lemvig : 1st Overall

Circuit des Mines The Circuit de Lorraine is a multi-stage road bicycle racing event held annually in Lorraine, France. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing compet ...

::1st Stage 1 : 1st Rund um Hanleite-Erfur ;2001 : 9th Giro del Piemonte ;2003 : 1st MaillotDinamarca

Road race, National Road Championships ;2005 : 1st GP d'Ouverture la Marseillaise : 1st Stage 18

: 7th

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; ; ) was a European Classic cycle races, Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 until 2014. It was a race with a long history ...

;2006 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

;2007 : 5th Overall

Sachsen Tour The Sachsen Tour was a multi-stage road bicycle race held in the region of Saxony, Germany. It was first held in 1985 and wasorganised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour from 2005 until its final edition in 2009. Between 1985 and 1995 it was an ...

: 5th Overall

Danmark Rundt Danmark Rundt is a Danish multi-day professional road cycling race. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, PostNord, and the race is therefore also known as PostNord Danmark Rundt. The race is sometimes called the Tou ...

: 7th Overall Bayern Rundfahrt ;2008 : 1st MaillotDinamarca

Road race, National Road Championships ;2009 :

::1st Stage 12 :: Jersey red number

Combativity award Stage 12 : 1st Stage 2

;2010 : 1st MaillotDinamarca

Road race, National Road Championships ;2011 : 1st MaillotDinamarca

Road race, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall Bayern Rundfahrt : 3rd Giro del Friuli ;2012 : 1st

;2013 : 6th Overall

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 H ...

References

External links

Profile at Team Saxo Bank
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sorensen, Nicki 1975 births Living people Danish male cyclists Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Denmark Danish Vuelta a España stage winners Danish Tour de France stage winners Sportspeople from Hillerød Municipality Danish sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in cycling Cyclists from the Capital Region of Denmark 21st-century Danish sportsmen