Niels Albert

Niels Albert

Albert during the 2007 UCI World Cyclo-cross Championships
Personal information
Full name	Niels Albert
Born	(1986-02-05) 5 February 1986 Bonheiden, Belgium
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	66 kg (146 lb; 10.4 st)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Cyclo-cross and road
Role	Rider
Professional team(s)
2005–2014	Palmans–Sapim–Collstrop
Major wins
Cyclo-cross World Cup Overall classification (2010–11, 2012–13) 11 individual races Superprestige 14 individual races BPost Bank Trophy Overall classification (2012–13) 15 individual races World Championships (2009, 2012) National Championships (2011)
Medal record Representing  Belgium Cyclo-cross World Championships Hoogerheide 2009 Elite Men's Race Koksijde 2012 Elite Men's Race
Infobox last updated on 28 May 2014

Niels Albert (born 5 February 1986 in Bonheiden, near Antwerp, Belgium) is a former professional cyclo-cross racing cyclist who currently resides in Tremelo. He became World Champion twice, in 2009 and 2012.

Career

Similarly to Sven Nys, Albert began BMX racing, in which he was two times Belgian National Champion, before switching to cyclo-cross. On 8 October 2006 Albert took his first major senior victory at Grote Prijs Pro Cycling Neerpelt, Belgium. Albert won the first International cyclo-cross of the 2007/08 season with a victory in Erpe-Mere, Belgium.^[1] Albert scored another big victory with the Superprestige in Gieten, the Netherlands where riding for the first time in the Elite category of the annual Gieten race, he beat Sven Nys and Lars Boom.^[2]

He finished second at the 2008/09 Belgian Cyclo-cross Championships (behind Sven Nys).

In 2009, he became the Cyclo-cross world champion in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands. He took a second World Champion title in 2012, after a solo victory in Koksijde.^[3]

His career ended abruptly on 19 May 2014, when Albert, aged 28, announced his retirement as a professional cyclist, due to heart problems.^[4]

Palmarès

Cyclo-cross

Road

References

• UCI World Cyclo-cross Championships Archive

External links

• Niels Albert photos

Niels Albert sporting positions and awards
UCI Cyclo-cross World Champions – Men's elite race 1950 Jean Robic 1951–1953 Roger Rondeaux 1954–1958 André Dufraisse 1959 Renato Longo 1960–1961 Rolf Wolfshohl 1962 Renato Longo 1963 Rolf Wolfshohl 1964–1965 Renato Longo 1966 Erik De Vlaeminck 1967 Renato Longo 1968–1973 Erik De Vlaeminck 1974 Albert Van Damme 1975 Roger De Vlaeminck 1976–1979 Albert Zweifel 1980 Roland Liboton 1981 Hennie Stamsnijder 1982–1984 Roland Liboton 1985 Klaus-Peter Thaler 1986 Albert Zweifel 1987 Klaus-Peter Thaler 1988 Pascal Richard 1989 Danny De Bie 1990 Henk Baars 1991 Radomír Šimůnek 1992 Mike Kluge 1993 Dominique Arnould 1994 Paul Herygers 1995 Dieter Runkel 1996 Adri van der Poel 1997 Daniele Pontoni 1998–1999 Mario De Clercq 2000 Richard Groenendaal 2001 Erwin Vervecken 2002 Mario De Clercq 2003–2004 Bart Wellens 2005 Sven Nys 2006–2007 Erwin Vervecken 2008 Lars Boom 2009 Niels Albert 2010–2011 Zdeněk Štybar 2012 Niels Albert 2013 Sven Nys 2014 Zdeněk Štybar 2015 Mathieu van der Poel 2016 Wout Van Aert Belgian National Cyclo-cross Champion – Men's Elite 1910 Thys 1911 Not held 1912 Van Ingelghem 1913 Moerenhout 1914 Van Ingelghem 1915-1920 Not held 1921 Vermandel 1922 De Waele 1923 Van Eetvelde 1924 Van Dam 1925 Verhaegen 1926 Moerenhout 1927 Meeuwis 1928 Goedhuys 1929-1930 Ronsse 1931 Goedhuys 1932 Demuysere 1933-1937 Seynaeve 1938-1939 Thys 1940 Not held 1941 Blendeman 1942-1943 Jacobs 1944 Van Hellemont 1945-1947 Vandermeirsch 1948 De Coster 1949 Vandermeirsch 1950 Van Kerrebroeck 1951 Vandermeirsch 1952 Van Kerrebroeck 1953 Furnière 1954 Feremans 1955-1956 Van Kerrebroeck 1957 De Rey 1958 Van Kerrebroeck 1959 De Rey 1960 R. De Clercq 1961 Van Kerrebroeck 1962 R. De Clercq 1963 Van Damme 1964 R. De Clercq 1965-1966 Van Damme 1967 E. De Vlaeminck 1968 Van Damme 1969 E. De Vlaeminck 1970 Van Damme 1971-1972 E. De Vlaeminck 1973 Van Damme 1974-1975 R. De Vlaeminck 1976-1977 De Block 1978 R. De Vlaeminck 1979 Teugels 1980-1989 Liboton 1990-1992 De Bie 1993 Herygers 1994 Van Den Abeele 1995 Janssens 1996 Vervecken 1997 Herygers 1998-1999 Janssens 2000 Nys 2001-2002 M. De Clercq 2003 Nys 2004 Wellens 2005-2006 Nys 2007 Wellens 2008-2010 Nys 2011 Albert 2012 Nys 2013 Vantornout 2014 Nys 2015 Vantornout Belgian Sportsperson of the Year Men 1967 Ferdinand Bracke 1968 Serge Reding 1969–1974 Eddy Merckx 1975 Bruno Brokken 1976 Ivo Van Damme 1977 Michel Pollentier 1978 Raymond Ceulemans 1979–1980 Robert Van de Walle 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982 Jacky Ickx 1983 Eddy Annys 1984 Claude Criquielion 1985 Gaston Rahier & Vincent Rousseau 1986 William Van Dijck 1987 Georges Jobé 1988 Eric Geboers 1989 Thierry Boutsen 1990 Rudy Dhaenens 1991 Jean-Michel Saive 1992 Georges Jobé 1993 Vincent Rousseau 1994 Jean-Michel Saive 1995–1996 Fred Deburghgraeve 1997 Luc Van Lierde 1998 Fred Deburghgraeve 1999 Luc Van Lierde 2000 Joël Smets 2001–2004 Stefan Everts 2005 Tom Boonen 2006 Stefan Everts 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Sven Nys 2009–2011 Philippe Gilbert 2012 Tom Boonen 2013 Frederik Van Lierde 2014 Thibaut Courtois 2015 Kevin De Bruyne 2016 Greg Van Avermaet Women 1975 Carine Verbauwen 1976–1977 Anne-Marie Pira 1978–1979 Carine Verbauwen 1980 Ingrid Berghmans 1981 Annie Lambrechts 1982–1986 Ingrid Berghmans 1987 Ingrid Lempereur 1988–1989 Ingrid Berghmans 1990–1991 Sabine Appelmans 1992 Annelies Bredael 1993 Gella Vandecaveye 1994–1995 Brigitte Becue 1996 Ulla Werbrouck 1997 Gella Vandecaveye 1998 Dominique Monami 1999–2002 Kim Clijsters 2003–2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2005 Kim Clijsters 2006–2007 Justine Henin-Hardenne 2008 Tia Hellebaut 2009–2011 Kim Clijsters 2012 Evi Van Acker 2013 Kirsten Flipkens 2014 Nafissatou Thiam 2015 Delfine Persoon 2016 Nafissatou Thiam Team 1997 Noliko Maaseik 1998 Belgian Motocross team 1999 Davis Cup team 2000 Anderlecht 2001 Fed Cup team 2002 La Villette 2003 Belgian Motocross team 2004 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2005 Under-21 football team 2006 Fed Cup team 2007–2008 Women's 4×100 metres relay 2009–2011 Men's 4×400 metres relay 2012 Field hockey team 2013–2014 Football team 2015 Davis Cup team 2016 Field hockey team Talent 1998 Kim Clijsters 1999 Bart Wellens 2000 Bart Aernouts 2001 Jurgen Van den Broeck 2002 Thomas Buffel 2003 Kirsten Flipkens 2004 Aagje Vanwalleghem 2005 Niels Albert 2006 Yoris Grandjean 2007 Dominique Cornu 2008 Elise Matthysen 2009 Romelu Lukaku 2010 Luca Brecel 2011 Thomas van der Plaetsen 2012 Kimmer Coppejans 2013 Nafissatou Thiam 2014 Divock Origi 2015 Tiesj Benoot 2016 Louise Carton Paralympic 2010 Sven Decaesstecker 2011 Wim Decleir 2012 Marieke Vervoort 2013 Joachim Gérard 2014 Michèle George 2015 Marieke Vervoort 2016 Laurens Devos Coach 2011–2012 Jacques Borlée 2013–2014 Marc Wilmots 2015 Hein Vanhaezebrouck 2016 Roger Lespagnard Belgian Professional Cyclist of the Year Crystal Bicycle 1992 De Wolf 1993 Museeuw 1994 Herygers 1995–1997 Museeuw 1998 Steels 1999 Vandenbroucke 2000 Tchmil 2001 Verbrugghe 2002 Museeuw 2003 Van Petegem 2004–2006 Boonen 2007 Nys 2008–2011 Gilbert 2012 Boonen 2013 Nys 2014–2016 Van Avermaet Best Young Rider 1994 Trouvé 1995 Hoste 1996 D'Hollander 1997–1998 Nys 1999 Hulsmans 2000 Van Goolen 2001 Boonen 2002 De Weert 2003 Vansummeren 2004–2005 Albert 2006 Cornu 2007 Albert 2008 Bakelants 2009 Boeckmans 2010 Eijssen 2011 Van der Sande 2012 Van Hoecke 2013 Decraene 2014 Teuns 2015 De Plus 2016 Lambrecht Best Manager 2000 Lefevere & Bruyneel 2001 Braeckevelt 2002–2003 Bruyneel 2004 Lefevere 2005 De Cauwer 2006 Lefevere 2007–2009 Bruyneel 2010 Sergeant 2011 Lelangue 2012 Bomans 2013 Lefevere 2014–2015 Planckaert 2016 De Weert Crystal Drop of Sweat 2005 Hulsmans 2006 Steegmans 2007 Vansummeren 2008 Aerts 2009 Vandenbergh 2010 Aerts 2011 Vanendert 2012 De Weert 2013 Vandenbergh 2014–2016 Keisse Best Female Rider 2016 D'Hoore