Gert Steegmans

Gert Steegmans during the Four Days of Dunkirk 2008 race

Gert Steegmans (born September 30, 1980 in Hasselt ) is a former Belgian cyclist .

Career

After Steegmans won the Omloop Het Volk in the U23 class in 2001 and became Belgian champion in 2002, he received his first contract with an international cycling team in 2003 with the Belgian Lotto-Domo team .

His first international elite success came in 2005 on a stage of the Tour de Picardie . His greatest successes included two stage victories in the Tour de France . In the 2007 Tour de France , he won the second stage just ahead of his teammate Tom Boonen , whose sprint driver he was supposed to be. In 2008 , he was also able to win the final stage on the Champs-Elysées in the sprint .

After Steegmans refused to sign an anti-doping agreement, which he u. a. would have been obliged to pay five times the annual salary as a penalty to the team in the event of a doping offense , his team Katusha Steegmans excluded from the 2009 Tour de France . Subsequently, his contract was terminated

In July 2015, Steegmans announced his retirement from cycling because after numerous falls in the course of the season he lacked the will to continue to compete in professional races.