Kim Kirchen (born 3 July 1978 in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgish former road racing cyclist. He is the son of cyclist Erny Kirchen and the great-nephew of cyclist Jeng Kirchen.[2]
 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Kim Kirchen |
| Nickname | Grim Kim[1] |
| Born | 3 July 1978 Luxembourg City, Luxembourg |
| Team information | |
| Current team | None |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | All-rounder |
| Amateur team | |
| 1999–2000 | De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa |
| Professional teams | |
| 2001–2005 | Fassa Bortolo |
| 2006–2009 | T-Mobile Team |
| 2010 | Team Katusha |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Biography
editKim Kirchen was born on July 3, 1978, in Luxembourg. His father, Erny Kirchen, was a cyclist, notably winning the Flèche du Sud and being the national vice-champion in 1974.[3]
Kim Kirchen started cycling at the age of 13 in 1992, with the Amis du Cyclisme de la Commune de Contern (ACC Contern), a renowned Luxembourgish club presided over by Marcel Gilles, where he notably rode alongside Fränk Schleck.[4]
Career
editKirchen signed as a professional cyclist in 2000 with De Nardi-Pasta Montegrappa, and went on to join Fassa Bortolo in 2001. For the 2006 cycling season, he joined the T-Mobile Team following the demise of the Fassa Bortolo team.
His first recorded race was in Dommeldange in 1999, and he had to wait until 2000 for his first professional victory when he won the Piva Col trophy. Kirchen was named the Luxembourgian Sportsman of the Year in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2008, surpassing the achievement of fellow cyclist Charly Gaul and putting him fourth in the all-time stakes.
In July 2008 he showed good form during the Tour de France, placing 7th in the general classification[5] and wearing the yellow jersey for a total of four stages.
In 2010, Kirchen joined Team Katusha, after he was unable to agree with Team Columbia–HTC on a contract extension.[6] He suffered a suspected heart attack during the 2010 Tour de Suisse, in June 2010.[7] He did not race in 2011 because of the heart condition and later retired from the sport.[8][9]
Since 2011, Kirchen co-commentates all cycling races broadcast on RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg, along with former Cofidis cyclist Tom Flammang.
Major results
edit- 1999
- 1st
Road race, National Road Championahips
- 1st Coppa Città di San Daniele
- 2001
- 1st Stage 3 Tour de Luxembourg
- 2002
- 1st
Overall Ronde van Nederland
- 1st
- 2003
- 1st Paris–Brussels
- 4th Overall Tour de Suisse
- 2004
- 1st
- 1st Stage Tour de Luxembourg
- 6th Road race, Olympic Games
- 2005
- 1st
- 1st
Points classification
- 1st Stage 7
- 1st
- 1st Gran Premio di Chiasso
- 1st Trofeo Laigueglia
- 1st Stage 4 Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
- 2nd La Flèche Wallonne
- 2nd Coppa Placci
- 2006
- 1st
- 1st Prologue Tour de Luxembourg
- 2007
- 2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
- 2nd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
- 3rd Overall Tour de Pologne
- 3rd Brabantse Pijl
- 3rd Milano–Torino
- 7th Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stage 15
- 2008
- 1st
- 1st La Flèche Wallonne
- Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stages 2 & 4
- 1st Stage 6 Tour de Suisse
- 7th Overall Tour de France
- 1st Stage 4
- Held
- Held
- 2009
- 1st
- 1st Stage 7 Tour de Suisse
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
edit| Grand Tour | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| — | 63 | DNF | — | 7 | 7 | 57 | |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| IP | In Progress |
Private life
editKim Kirchen married Caroline in 2007.[10] On July 8, 2010, just a few days after emerging from a coma, his wife gave birth to twins, Liam and Mike.[11]
References
edit- ^ Cavendish, Mark (June 2009). Boy Racer. Ebury Press. ISBN 978-0-09-193275-6.
- ^ "Doud vum fréiere Lëtzebuerger Vëlosprofi Jeng Kirchen" [Death of the former Luxembourgish professional cyclist Jeng Kirchen]. rtl.lu (in Luxembourgish). 1 December 2010. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
- ^ "Erny Kirchen". site du cyclisme.
- ^ "Frank Schleck". acccontern.
- ^ "Tour de France 2008". BBC News. 2008-07-27. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
- ^ "Kirchen Katusha bound in 2010". September 2009.
- ^ Kirchen suffers suspected heart-attack cyclingnews.com
- ^ Kirchen unlikely to race again Cyclingnews
- ^ "Das neue Leben des Ex-Profis Kim Kirchen". lessentiel.lu (in German). 9 July 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Félicitations, Caroline et Kim". acccontern.
- ^ "Kim Kirchen est papa !". l'essentiel. 8 July 2010.
External links
edit- VELOBIOS Rider profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 3 October 2011)
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived 18 November 2005)
- Kim Kirchen at trap-friis.dk
- Palmares at CyclingBase (French) at the Wayback Machine (archived 21 February 2007)
- Kim Kirchen at UCI
- Kim Kirchen at Olympedia
- Kim Kirchen at Olympics.com
- Kim Kirchen at the Comité Olympique et Sportif Luxembourgeois (in French)