Chris Anker Sørensen

For the Danish professional football player, see Chris Sørensen.

Chris Anker Sørensen
Sørensen at the 2011 Tour de Romandie
Personal information
Nickname
  • Oksen fra Hammel
  • (English: The Ox from Hammel)
Born(1984-09-05)5 September 1984
Hammel, Denmark
Died18 September 2021(2021-09-18) (aged 37)
Zeebrugge, Belgium
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight64 kg (141 lb)
Team information
DisciplineRoad
Role
Rider typeClimbing specialist
Amateur team
2001–2004Hammel CK
Professional teams
2005–2006Team Designa Køkken
2005→ Team CSC (stagiaire)
2007–2015Team CSC
2016Fortuneo–Vital Concept
2017–2018Riwal Platform
Managerial team
2019–2021Riwal Readynez
Major wins
Grand Tours
Tour de France
Combativity award (2012)
Giro d'Italia
1 individual stage (2010)

One-Day Races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (2015)

Chris Anker Sørensen (Danish pronunciation: [ˈkʰʁis ˈɑŋkɐ ˈsɶɐ̯ˀn̩sn̩]; 5 September 1984 – 18 September 2021) was a Danish road bicycle racer who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018 for the Team Designa Køkken, Tinkoff–Saxo, Fortuneo–Vital Concept, and Riwal Platform teams. Sørensen then worked as a directeur sportif (and co-owner) for his final professional team, Riwal Readynez.[1]

Career

Born in Hammel, Sørensen had a promising performance in the 2008 Tour of Austria, finishing fourth overall. A few weeks later, he competed for Denmark (along with Nicki Sørensen and Brian Vandborg) in the 2008 Olympic road race, finishing 12th overall.

Starting with the 2010 season, Sørensen, who lived in Luxembourg, rode under a Luxembourg license, since the UCI no longer allowed the Danish federation to grant Danish licenses to riders living abroad.[2] During the season, he won Stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia.[3]

In the 2012 Tour de France, Sørensen finished 14th overall and was awarded the super-combativity award after an attacking performance in several mountain stages.[4]

In September 2015, it was announced that he would leave Tinkoff–Saxo and join Fortuneo–Vital Concept for the 2016 season, with a role to support Eduardo Sepúlveda in Grand Tours.[5]

In February 2018, he announced his retirement at the end of the season.[6]

Personal life

He commentated on TV 2 (Denmark) from 2017 until his death.[7]

Death

On 18 September 2021, Sørensen was killed by injuries sustained by being struck by a van while on a bike ride in Zeebrugge, Belgium; he had been due to cover the 2021 UCI Road World Championships, which started the following day.[8] According to a statement of the Brugge parket released on 19 September, Sørensen did not yield on a location where he needed to do so.[9][10][11]

Major results

2001
3rd Road race, National Junior Road Championships
2005
1st Stage 3 Ringerike GP
2006
4th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
4th Overall Triptyque des Barrages
5th GP Demy–Cars
6th Grand Prix de Waregem
7th Omloop van het Waasland
8th Grand Prix Cristal Energie
2007
6th Overall Deutschland Tour
1st Stage 2 (TTT)
7th Rund um die Hainleite
2008
1st Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
3rd Grand Prix d'Isbergues
4th Overall Tour of Austria
1st Stage 2
2009
1st Japan Cup
2nd Road race, National Road Championships
5th Overall Tour du Haut Var
6th GP Miguel Induráin
8th Giro dell'Emilia
2010
1st Stage 8 Giro d'Italia
3rd Overall Tour of Slovenia
5th Road race, National Road Championships
6th Overall Tour du Haut Var
2011
1st Mountains classification Tour de Romandie
5th Road race, National Road Championships
6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
8th Overall Tour du Haut Var
2012
1st Mountains classification Volta a Catalunya
5th Road race, National Road Championships
5th Giro dell'Emilia
8th Milano–Torino
Combativity award Overall Tour de France
2013
2nd Giro dell'Emilia
10th Overall Tour de Pologne
2015
1st Road race, National Road Championships
9th Overall Tour of Britain
2016
5th Overall Tour La Provence
2017
4th Overall Kreiz Breizh Elites
9th Sundvolden GP
2018
10th Lillehammer GP

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia — 28 — 27 — — — DNF — —
A yellow jersey Tour de France — — 34 69 37 14 — — — 84
A red jersey Vuelta a España 19 — — — 12 — 18 29 — —

See also

References

  1. ^ "Chris Anker Sørensen bliver medejer af Riwal - CeramicSpeed Cycling Team" [Chris Anker Sørensen joins the Riwal - CeramicSpeed Cycling Team]. Riwal CeramicSpeed (in Danish). Procycling DK ApS. June 2018. Archived from the original on 24 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019. Den danske cykel-darling, som har givet os mange gode øjeblikke på TV-skærmen, går imod vejs ende som cykelrytter, og træder nu ind i en ny rolle på Riwal - CeramicSpeed Cycling Team, hvor han har tilbragt de sidste to sæsoner af sin lange karriere. [The Danish bicycle darling, who has given us many good moments on the TV screen, goes against the road end as a cyclist, and now enters a new role on the Riwal - CeramicSpeed Cycling Team, where he has spent the last two seasons of his long career.]
  2. ^ "Luxembourg licence for Sorensen". CyclingNews. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Saxo's Chris Sorensen wins stage 8 of the 2010 Giro d'Italia". VeloNews. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  4. ^ "Sørensen awarded super combative title at Tour de France". CyclingNews. 21 July 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Chris Anker Sorensen to Bretagne-Seche Environnement in 2016". CyclingNews. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  6. ^ "Chris Anker Sørensen stopper karrieren efter denne sæson" [Chris Anker Sørensen stops his career after this season]. TV 2 Sport (in Danish). 20 February 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  7. ^ "Chris Anker og Brian Nygaard til TV 2 SPORT" [Chris Anker and Brian Nygaard for TV 2 SPORT]. TV 2 Sport (in Danish). 22 December 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  8. ^ Dowdeswell, Andrew (19 September 2021). "TV 2 Sport commentator Sørensen dies in cycling collision before Road World Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  9. ^ Petersen, Jacob Qvirin (18 September 2021). "Chris Anker Sørensen er død efter ulykke - TV 2" [Chris Anker Sørensen has died after an accident]. TV 2 Sport (in Danish). Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  10. ^ "Triest nieuws in de rand van WK wielrennen: Deense ex-prof Chris Anker Sørensen verongelukt in Zeebrugge" [Sad news in the edge of the World Cycling Championships: Danish ex-pro Chris Anker Sørensen died in Zeebrugge]. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
  11. ^ "Chris Anker Sørensen killed in crash at World Championships". CyclingNews. 18 September 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
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