Tour de France history: July 7th is Erik Zabel's day every year. But 24 years ago, the East Berliner not only celebrated his birthday, but also his first stage win in the Tour de France.
Erik Zabel's perfect birthday
All the best, Eric Zabel! Today the former German sprinter is celebrating his 49th birthday. Exactly 24 years ago he won his first stage in the Tour de France. The peloton drove from Dunkirk to Belgium on the sixth stage Charleroi. After 202,0 kilometers he sat ahead of the Frenchman in a mass sprint Laurent Jalabert and the Uzbek Djamolidine Abdoujaparov through. Previously, Sprint Ace won Mario Cipollini already two parts. The general classification of the 1995 Tour de France should end up for the last time Miguel Indurain decide for yourself. Erik Zabel didn't manage another stage win this year, but a few more were to follow in the course of his career.
12 stage wins & 6x green jersey
Without a doubt, Erik Zabel is considered one of the best sprinters of the 90s. This is underlined by his results at the Tour de France. He won from 1996 to 2001 the green jersey six times the best sprinter. Only Peter Sagan won the points classification as often. The Slovakian could become the sole record holder with his seventh success this year. In contrast to his main competitor Mario Cipollini, Erik Zabel usually finished the Tour de France. He was allowed to cheer about the total twelve stage wins. He was the German record holder for many years. This was only broken in 2017 by Marcel Kittel. We should also not hide victories in important one-day races in his palmarès: 4x Milan-Sanremo, 3x Paris-Tours, 1x Amstel Gold Race - to name just a few. His career is only marred by his doping past, which he confessed to in 2013. Today he works for the Katusha – Alpecin team. His son Rick Zabel also drives there.
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