Kim Kirchen

Kim Kirchen
Personal information
Full name Kim Kirchen
Nickname Grim Kim[1]
Born (1978-07-03) 3 July 1978
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg
Team information
Current team None
Discipline Road
Role Rider
Rider type All-rounder
Amateur team(s)
1999–2000 De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa
Professional team(s)
2001–2005 Fassa Bortolo
2006–2009 T-Mobile Team
2010 Team Katusha
Major wins

Grand Tours

Tour de France
2 individual stages (2007, 2008)

Stage Races

Tour de Pologne (2005)

One-Day Races and Classics

National Time Trial Champion (2008, 2009)
National Road Race Champion (1999, 2004, 2006)
La Flèche Wallonne (2008)
Paris–Brussels (2003)

Kim Kirchen (born 3 July 1978 in Luxembourg City) is a former Luxembourg road racing cyclist. He is the son of cyclist Erny Kirchen and the great-nephew of cyclist Jeng Kirchen.[2]

Career

Kirchen signed as a professional cyclist in 2000 with De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa, and went on to join Fassa Bortolo in 2001. For the 2006 cycling season, he joined the T-Mobile Team following the demise of the Fassa Bortolo team.

His first recorded race was in Dommeldange in 1999, and he had to wait until 2000 for his first professional victory when he won the Piva Col trophy. Kirchen was named the Luxembourgian Sportsman of the Year in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, surpassing the achievement of fellow cyclist Charly Gaul and putting him fourth in the all-time stakes.

In July 2008 he showed good form during the Tour de France, placing 7th in the general classification[3] and wearing the coveted yellow jersey for a total of four stages.

In 2010, Kirchen joined Team Katusha–Alpecin, after he was unable to agree with Team Columbia–HTC on a contract extension.[4] He suffered a suspected heart attack during the 2010 Tour de Suisse, in June 2010.[5] He did not race in 2011 because of the heart condition and later retired from the sport altogether.[6][7]

Since 2011, Kirchen co-commentates all cycling races broadcast on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, along with former Cofidis cyclist Tom Flammang.

Major results

1999
1st National Road Race Champion
2001
1st Stage 3 Tour de Luxembourg
2002
1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
1st Overall Tour de Berne
2003
1st Paris–Brussels
4th Overall Tour de Suisse
2004
1st National Road Race Champion
1st Stage Tour de Luxembourg
6th Summer Olympics Road Race
2005
1st Overall Tour de Pologne
1st Stage 7
1st Points Classification
1st Gran Premio di Chiasso
1st Trofeo Laigueglia
1st Stage 4 Settimana Ciclistica Internazionale "Coppi e Bartali"
2nd La Flèche Wallonne
2nd Coppa Placci
2006
1st National Road Race Champion
1st Prologue Tour de Luxembourg
2007
2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
3rd Milano–Torino
3rd Overall Tour de Pologne
3rd Brabantse Pijl
7th Overall Tour de France
1st Stage 15
2008
1st National Time Trial Champion
1st La Flèche Wallonne
1st Stage 2 Vuelta al País Vasco
1st Stage 4 Vuelta al País Vasco
1st Stage 6 Tour de Suisse
7th Overall Tour de France
Held maillot jaune Stages 6-9
Held maillot vert Stages 6-7 and 9
1st Stage 4
2009
1st National Time Trial Champion
1st Stage 7 Tour de Suisse
10th Stage 15 Tour de France

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

- style="text-align:center;"

 A pink jersey Giro d'Italia — — — — — — —
A yellow jersey Tour de France — 63 DNF — 6 7 57
A red jersey Vuelta a España — — — — — — —
Legend
— Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
IP In Progress

References

  1. ↑ Cavendish, Mark (June 2009). Boy Racer. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-193275-6.
  2. ↑ "Doud vum fréiere Lëtzebuerger Vëlosprofi Jeng Kirchen" [Death of the former Luxembourgish professional cyclist Jeng Kirchen]. rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). 1 December 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  3. ↑ "Tour de France 2008". BBC News. 2008-07-27. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  4. ↑ http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/kirchen-katusha-bound-in-2010
  5. ↑ Kirchen suffers suspected heart-attack cyclingnews.com
  6. ↑ Kirchen unlikely to race again Cyclingnews
  7. ↑ "Das neue Leben des Ex-Profis Kim Kirchen". lessentiel.lu (in German). 9 July 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
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