Bernhard Eisel (born 17 February 1981) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the Mapei–Quick-Step, Française des Jeux, HTC–Highroad, Team Sky and Team Dimension Data teams. Following his retirement, he worked as an analyst and presenter for Eurosport and the Global Cycling Network (GCN),[4] before joining Bora–Hansgrohe as a directeur sportif in 2022.[5]

Bernhard Eisel
Personal information
Full nameBernhard Eisel
NicknameBernie
Born (1981-02-17) 17 February 1981 (age 43)
Voitsberg, Austria
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeClassics specialist
Road captain
Amateur teams
-Rinascita Ormelle
-Gli Amici Piave
Professional teams
2001–2002Mapei–Quick-Step
2003–2006FDJeux.com
2007–2011T-Mobile Team
2012–2015Team Sky[1][2]
2016–2019Team Dimension Data[3]
Major wins
Grand Tours
Vuelta a España
1 TTT stage (2010)

One-day races and Classics

Gent–Wevelgem (2010)
Paris–Bourges (2008)

Career

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Born in Voitsberg, Eisel won his first race when he was 11 years old, since then he has won many races. When he was 17, he moved to Italy to race for the team Rinascita Ormelle, based in Treviso. After that he moved to Gli Amici Piave, the team of Moreno Argentin. In 2001 he joined the team Mapei–Quick-Step and became a professional cyclist, from 2003 on he joined FDJeux.com.

In 2007, Eisel changed to T-Mobile Team. Eisel enjoyed a successful first season with his main victory coming on Stage 2 of the Volta ao Algarve. Eisel established himself as the right-hand man of sprinter and teammate Mark Cavendish, protecting him throughout the flats and mountain stages[6] and forming part of the HTC lead out train that saw Cavendish take many notable victories in the Tour de France and other races. Eisel also had opportunities to ride for himself, mainly in the classics. He won Paris–Bourges in 2008 and Gent–Wevelgem in 2010, and in 2011, Eisel recorded his best placing in a monument by finishing seventh in Paris–Roubaix. Eisel was appointed as a member of the inaugural UCI Athletes' Commission in 2011.[7]

Following the announcement that HTC–Highroad would fold at the end of 2011, Eisel joined Mark Cavendish in moving to Team Sky.[1] After Cavendish announced he would cut his three-year deal with the team short to move to Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, Eisel announced he would stay with Team Sky until the end of the 2015 season.[8]

On 28 September 2015, Sky announced that Eisel would be among the riders leaving the team at the end of the year, following four seasons with the team.[9] The following day it was announced that he had joined Cavendish (and Mark Renshaw, their former teammate at HTC) in signing for MTN–Qhubeka – to be renamed as Team Dimension Data.[10]

On 14 January 2020 he announced his retirement from professional racing. Shortly afterwards he took up a role as a presenter, reporter and commentator for Eurosport and Global Cycling Network (GCN).[4][11] In November 2021 Bora–Hansgrohe announced that Eisel would join them as a directeur sportif from the 2022 season.[5]

Major results

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1999
5th Road race, UCI Junior Road World Championships
2002
1st Radclassic-Gleisdorf
2nd Overall Paris–Corrèze
4th Overall GP Erik Breukink
2003 (2 pro wins)
1st Stage 4 Tour du Limousin
3rd Overall GP Erik Breukink
1st Stage 2
7th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
2004
1st Stage 3 Criterium des Espoirs
1st Bad Ischl
5th Scheldeprijs
7th Overall Tour de Picardie
2005 (4)
Volta ao Algarve
1st   Points classification
1st Stages 1 & 4
1st Stage 1 Tour de Suisse
2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul
1st Points classification
1st Stage 4
2006 (3)
1st Stage 4 Tour of Qatar
1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
1st Grazer Altstadt Kriterium
1st Mayrhofen Europa-Kriterium
2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne
1st   Points classification
1st Stage 2a
2nd Overall Grande Prémio Internacional Costa Azul
5th Paris–Roubaix
7th Gent–Wevelgem
2007 (3)
1st Lancaster Classic
1st Reading Classic
1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
1st Linz criterium
3rd Philadelphia International Championship
4th Overall Tour of Qatar
8th Trofeo Palma
2008 (2)
1st Paris–Bourges
1st Stage 5 Volta ao Algarve
3rd Reading Classic
4th Philadelphia International Championship
6th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen
9th Lancaster Classic
2009 (1)
1st Stage 2 Tour de Suisse
1st Welser Sparkassen Innenstadt-Kriterium
2nd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
3rd Road race, National Road Championships
9th Scheldeprijs
2010 (1)
1st Gent–Wevelgem
1st Stage 1 (TTT) Vuelta a España
7th Paris–Bourges
8th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
9th Paris–Tours
2011
7th Paris–Roubaix
7th Gent–Wevelgem
8th Overall Tour of Qatar
2012
3rd E3 Harelbeke
2013
5th Overall Tour of Qatar
7th Gent–Wevelgem
10th Milan–San Remo
2014
3rd Road race, National Road Championships
2017
1st   Mountains classification, Arctic Race of Norway

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

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Grand Tour 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
  Giro d'Italia 63 152 138 143
  Tour de France 131 143 107 121 144 150 155 160 146 126 171 153
  Vuelta a España DNF DNF DNF

Classics results timeline

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Monument 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Milan–San Remo 12 DNF DNF 23 34 107 DNF 44 47 DNF 10 65 DNF 185 128
Tour of Flanders 14 103 13 15 86 11 72 16 14 54 DNF 60 99 DNF 104 117
Paris–Roubaix 22 35 49 5 65 17 47 38 7 86 12 13 71 44 36 66
Liège–Bastogne–Liège Did not contest during career
Giro di Lombardia
Classic 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 18 132 121 8 95 23 64 81 71 DNF
Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne DNF 35 DNF DNF 2 113 45 83 DNF
E3 Saxo Bank Classic 35 16 64 73 6 11 3 36 54 86 DNF DNF
Gent–Wevelgem DNF DNF DNF 7 26 160 DNF 1 7 129 7 24 DNF 76 DNF
Scheldeprijs 5 51 9 85 141 62 119 109 13 121 40
Paris–Tours 55 DNF 44 9 43 106 DNF DNF
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish

References

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  1. ^ a b "Cavendish, Eisel join Team Sky". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Team Sky (SKY) – GBR". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  3. ^ "Dimension Data finalise 2019 roster". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Global Cycling Network announces former road racer Bernie Eisel as new presenter". Eurosport. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Bernhard Eisel and Enrico Gasparotto join Bora-Hansgrohe as sport directors". VeloNews. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2022.
  6. ^ McGrath, Andy (11 October 2011). "Eisel follows Cavendish to Team Sky". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  7. ^ Ryan, Barry (5 March 2015). "UCI Athletes' Commission holds first meeting in Aigle". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Eisel extends with Sky until 2015". Cyclingnews.com. Future Publishing Limited. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  9. ^ "Team Sky confirm 2016 line-up". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  10. ^ O'Shea, Sadhbh (29 September 2015). "Mark Cavendish joins Team Dimension Data for 2016". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Eisel kehrt zurück" [Eisel returns]. Austrian Olympic Committee (in German). 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
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