After two seasons with Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator, De Gendt joined Vacansoleil–DCM for the 2011 season. De Gendt won the opening stage of Paris–Nice and also won stage 7 of the Tour de Suisse.[14][15] At the Tour de France, despite suffering a minor collarbone fracture, De Gendt had a strong final week, finishing sixth on stage 19 to Alpe d'Huez and fourth in the time trial the following day.[16][17] He took one other victory during the season – a stage at the Circuit de Lorraine[18] – as he extended his contract with the team, until the end of 2013.[19]
In 2012, De Gendt won stage 7 of Paris–Nice after a 60-kilometre (37-mile) solo attack, having been in a breakaway with Rein Taaramäe; he won the stage by over six minutes ahead of Taaramäe.[20] In the Giro d'Italia, he won the penultimate stage at the Stelvio Pass with a solo breakaway which brought him to fourth in the general classification.[21] The following day he advanced to finish third in the final classification to take his first grand tour podium after passing Michele Scarponi in the final individual time trial.[22] He took one further victory for the team, in 2013, winning the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya.[23]
Omega Pharma–Quick-Step (2014)
In October 2013, Omega Pharma–Quick-Step announced that they were signing De Gendt for the 2014 season after the Vacansoleil–DCM outfit folded.[24] However, De Gendt left the team after just one season.[25]
After an uneventful season with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step, De Gendt moved to Lotto–Soudal in 2015 on an initial two-year contract.[26] In his first season with the team, De Gendt won the mountains classification at Paris–Nice,[27] and following Stefan Denifl's results being expunged in 2019, was retroactively designated the winner of the mountains classification at the Tour de Suisse.[28]
At the 2016 Volta a Catalunya, De Gendt led the sprints classification from start to finish, and he also won the mountains classification,[29] having assumed the lead after his stage victory on stage four,[30] the queen stage of the race. At the Tour de France, De Gendt held a jersey for the first time at a Grand Tour, taking the polka dot jersey as mountains classification leader following stage five – where he had finished second to Greg Van Avermaet.[31] He held the jersey for three stages initially, and then regained the lead for a further three days following stage twelve, after winning on Mont Ventoux.[32] He ultimately finished second to Rafał Majka in the mountains classification standings.[33]
In his first start of the 2017 season, De Gendt won the mountains classification at the Tour Down Under, taking the jersey from Richie Porte on the final day of the race.[34] He won the opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, over a hilly route in and around Saint-Étienne; he soloed clear of his breakaway companions and won the stage by approximately 45 seconds.[35] He held the race lead through until stage six, when he lost more than eight minutes to the stage winner, Jakob Fuglsang.[36] At the Vuelta a España, De Gendt won stage 19 from a breakaway, completing his set of stage wins in all three Grand Tours.[37]
In 2018, De Gendt won the mountains classification at Paris–Nice,[38] having taken the lead on the penultimate stage of the race. In his next start, he won the third stage of the Volta a Catalunya after a solo attack of around 50 kilometres (31 miles); he took the race lead by 23 seconds following the stage,[39] but he would cede the lead the following day, losing 24 minutes.[40] He added to his string of long breakaway victories by winning the second stage of the Tour de Romandie in solo fashion.[41] He would ultimately go on to win both the points and mountains jerseys at the race.[42] He finished second in the Belgian National Time Trial Championships in June, losing out to teammate Victor Campenaerts by a margin of three seconds.[43] At the Vuelta a España, De Gendt won the mountains classification,[44] having taken the lead on stage 17 from Luis Ángel Maté,[45] who had held the lead of the classification from the start of the race.
Just as he did in 2018, De Gendt won the mountains classification at the 2019 Paris–Nice,[46] his third such victory in five years, having taken the jersey on stage four when he finished second to Magnus Cort on the stage.[47] He then won the opening stage of the Volta a Catalunya, winning the stage by almost three minutes after a solo move of some 60 kilometres (37 miles), attacking from a six-man breakaway group.[48] He held onto the overall race lead until stage four,[49] but was able to hold onto the mountains classification lead throughout the race. At the Tour de France, De Gendt took his second career stage win,[50] winning the eighth stage of the race from the breakaway; he attacked on the final categorised climb – the Côte de la Jaillère – dropping Alessandro De Marchi,[51] and he then held off Thibaut Pinot and Julian Alaphilippe to win the stage by six seconds.[52]
2020 onwards
After a winless 2020 – impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic – De Gendt took his fifth Volta a Catalunya stage victory on the final stage of the 2021 edition,[53] spending more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) in the breakaway, before attacking with approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) remaining.[54]
At the 2022 Giro d'Italia, De Gendt took his first stage victory at the race for a decade,[55] winning a hilly stage in and around Naples; he was part of a four-rider move that broke away from a larger breakaway group with approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) remaining, and was assisted by his teammate Harm Vanhoucke in the final sprint to the line.[56] That July, De Gendt signed a two-year contract extension with Lotto–Soudal, until the end of the 2024 season.[57]
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
De Gendt at the 2012 Giro d'Italia, where he finished third overall after a solo breakaway which led to victory on the penultimate stage.
Notes
^In June 2019, Stefan Denifl was stripped of all his race results recorded from the 2014 Bayern Rundfahrt onwards, following his suspension from cycling for blood doping.[60][61] As a consequence, De Gendt was retroactively promoted one position in the standings.[28]
References
^ a b"Thomas De Gendt". Lotto–Dstny. Belgian Cycling Project. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Thomas De Gendt solos to victory at opening stage at Criterium du Dauphine as Tour de France favourites finish safely in the bunch". telegraph.co.uk. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
^"Lotto-Soudal". Directvelo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
^"Steff Cras and Matthew Holmes complete Lotto Soudal's 2020 roster". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
^"Lotto Soudal". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
^"De Gendt sprints to victory". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Brutt denied stage again, this time by De Gendt". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 28 July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Stage 8 - Results Summary". Tour of Britain. SweetSpot. 19 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Rosseler continues RadioShack attack". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 14 April 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Eeckhout takes final stage in France". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 7 February 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Hansen wins Ster Elektrotoer". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 20 June 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"De Gendt spoils sprinters' party to win Paris-Nice stage one". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media. 6 March 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"De Gendt conquers Swiss test". Sky Sports. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Cossins, Peter (22 July 2011). "Rolland wins on the Alpe d'Huez at end of epic stage". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Weislo, Laura (14 July 2016). "Tour de France: Froome knocked from bike on Mont Ventoux, keeps yellow". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
^"Tour de France 2016 standings and results". Sky Sports. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Tour Down Under: Porte seals overall victory in Adelaide". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 22 January 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Charles, Andy (4 June 2017). "Thomas De Gendt leads Criterium du Dauphine after winning first stage". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Farrand, Stephen (9 June 2017). "Dauphine: Fuglsang wins stage 6". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^O'Shea, Sadhbh (8 September 2017). "Vuelta a Espana: De Gendt takes Grand Tour stage triptych". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
^Wynn, Nigel (21 March 2018). "Thomas De Gendt solos to win stage three and take race lead in Volta a Catalunya". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Farrand, Stephen (22 March 2018). "Volta a Catalunya: Valverde wins stage 4 in La Molina". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Windsor, Richard (16 September 2018). "Simon Yates crowned Vuelta a España 2018 champion as Elia Viviani takes final stage". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 20 October 2023. Mountains classification winner: Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto-Soudal
^Puddicombe, Stephen (12 September 2018). "Five talking points from stage 17 of the 2018 Vuelta a España". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 20 October 2023. Whereas a rider like Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) has the king of the mountains jersey to show for his efforts at constantly getting into breakaways (he inherits the jersey from Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) after claiming maximum points on each of today's first five climbs) [...]
^Ostanek, Daniel (17 March 2019). "Bernal wins Paris-Nice". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Lowe, Felix (18 March 2019). "Blazin' Saddles: Seven things we learned from 2019 Paris-Nice". Eurosport. Discovery, Inc. Retrieved 20 October 2023. Further success this week came from Magnus Cort, who outfoxed Thomas De Gendt to win from a breakaway in stage 4 to Pelussin to underline his versatility and form.
^Windsor, Richard (25 March 2019). "Thomas De Gendt takes stunning solo victory on Volta a Catalunya 2019 stage one". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Lopez climbs to stage four victory – and overall lead". Eurosport. Discovery, Inc. 28 March 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Brown, Gregor (13 July 2019). "Thomas De Gendt says Tour de France stage eight victory better than Ventoux and Stelvio wins". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 20 October 2023. With the win, 32-year-old De Gendt now counts two stage victories in the Tour [...]
^Elton-Walters, Jack (13 July 2019). "Tour de France 2019: Thomas De Gendt goes long to win Stage 8 while the French take time on GC". Cyclist. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Long, Jonny (13 July 2019). "Thomas De Gendt wins from breakaway as Julian Alaphilippe retakes yellow on stage eight of the Tour de France 2019". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Quarrell, Dan (28 March 2021). "Volta a Catalunya 2021 - Ineos' Adam Yates crowned champion as Thomas De Gendt wins final stage". Eurosport. Discovery, Inc. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Lowe, Felix (15 May 2022). "Thomas De Gendt: Breakaway king delivers sensational win on Stage 8 in Naples at Giro d'Italia 2022". Eurosport. Warner Bros. Discovery. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Madgwick, Katy (4 July 2022). "Two more years for De Gendt at Lotto Soudal". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^Nijsten, Wim (17 July 2019). "Evelyn, de vrouw achter wielrenner Thomas De Gendt: "De kinderen vinden het steeds moeilijker dat papa zo vaak weg is"" [Evelyn, the woman behind cyclist Thomas De Gendt: "The children find it increasingly difficult that dad is away so often"]. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). DPG Media. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Thomas De Gendt". FirstCycling.com. FirstCycling AS. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
^"Denifl and Preidler handed four-year bans after blood doping confessions". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
^"Consequences Imposed on License-Holders as Result of Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRV) as per the UCI Anti-Doping Rules (ADR)" (PDF). UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. 30 May 2022. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
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