Australian cyclist (born 1986)
Simon Clarke (born 18 July 1986) is an Australian professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Israel–Premier Tech.[4][5] He previously rode for the Astana (2011) and Orica–GreenEDGE (2012–2015) teams in the UCI World Tour.[6] Before turning professional, Clarke competed in track cycling as an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[7] He is not related to fellow Australian cyclist and past teammate Will Clarke.
Professional career
At the 2012 Vuelta a España, Clarke won the fourth stage of the race, after being a part of an early breakaway that made it home on the mountainous race. The only other survivor of the break was Omega Pharma–Quick-Step's Tony Martin, whom Clarke out sprinted to claim his first professional victory.[8] During the twentieth stage, Clarke placed first at the first three of five categorised climbs, to win the most combative rider for the stage and to secure himself the blue polka-dot jersey, as winner of the mountains classification.[9]
In September 2015, it was announced that Clarke would join Cannondale for the 2016 season.[10] He was added to Australia's roster for the 2016 Summer Olympics, replacing Simon Gerrans (Orica–GreenEDGE), who had crashed out of the Tour de France.[11]
In November 2020, it was announced that Clarke would join the Team Qhubeka Assos team for the 2021 season.[12] Clarke won the fifth stage of the 2022 Tour de France.[13] He joined the winning breakaway group on a stage that included eleven sections of cobbles, many of which were unfamiliar sections that had never been used in the Tour or Paris–Roubaix. As the third week began he was forced to quit the Tour for the first time in his career, due to a positive COVID test.[14]
Major results
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
References
- ^ "Orica-GreenEDGE (OGE) – AUS". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ "EF Education First Pro Cycling". Cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ Bacon, Ellis (1 January 2020). "2020 Team Preview: EF Education First". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Team Qhubeka Assos". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
- ^ "Qhubeka Assos continue to build 2021 squad with Clarke, Claeys, Frankiny". Cyclingnews.com. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ "Clarke bound for GreenEdge". cyclingnews.com. 23 August 2011.
- ^ Cycling Australian road cycling team announced for world championships
- ^ Atkins, Ben (21 August 2012). "Vuelta a España: Simon Clarke wins in stage four breakaway as Valverde loses to a crash". VeloNation. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ "Clarke: I'm not a climber, I'm an opportunist". Cycling News. 9 September 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
- ^ Windsor, Richard (24 September 2015). "Simon Clarke swaps Orica-GreenEdge for Cannondale-Garmin for 2016". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
- ^ "Australian Simon Clarke called up for Olympic Road Race". cyclingnews.com. 23 July 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
- ^ "Clarke, Claeys and Frankiny to boost Team Qhubeka-Assos". NTT Pro Cycling. Ryder Cycling. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ "Tour de France: Simon Clarke conquers cobbles to win stage 5". 6 July 2022.
- ^ "Cort Nielsen and Clarke out of Tour de France with COVID-19". Reuters. 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Simon Clarke (cyclist).