Johan Vansummeren

Johan Vansummeren
	John Vansummeren at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2011
To person
Date of birth	4th February 1981
nation	Belgium
discipline	Street
Team (s)
2002 ; 2003 ; 2004 ; 2005–2009 ; 2010–2014 ; 2015–2016	Domo-Farm Frites ; Quick Step-Davitamon ; Relax-Bodysol ; Silence-Lotto ; Garmin Sharp ; Ag2r La Mondiale
Most important successes
	Tour of Poland 2007 ; Paris – Roubaix 2011
	Last updated: February 23, 2016

Johan Vansummeren (born February 4, 1981 in Lommel ) is a former Belgian cyclist .

Career

Vansummeren won the U23 event of Omloop Het Volk in 2002 . He was then allowed to drive for Domo-Farm Frites as a stagiaire in late summer . He did not get a contract for the following season, but was able to drive for the Quick Step U23 team . This year he won the U23 event in Liège – Bastogne – Liège and was just second behind Sergey Lagutin in the road race of the road cycling world championship . For the 2004 season he signed a professional contract with Relax-Bodysol and in 2005 with the Belgian ProTeam Davitamon-Lotto . In the same year he contested his first Tour de France and finished it in 136th place overall. He improved to 63rd overall place in 2007 . He then won the Tour of Poland . In 2010 Vansummeren finished the Tour de France in 30th place; after the early failure of his captain Christian Vande Velde , Vansummeren was assigned as a noble helper for Ryder Hesjedal .

He celebrated the greatest success of his career in 2011 at the classic Paris – Roubaix , when he crossed the finish line 19 seconds ahead of Fabian Cancellara and Maarten Tjallingii as the last remaining in a breakaway group .

In February 2015, Vansummeren was diagnosed with heart problems, which is why he initially had to forego the start of the spring classics. At the end of June 2016, he retired from cycling because of these health problems.