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Julien Arnaud Absalon (born 16 August 1980) is a French former cross-country mountain biker, who competed as a professional from 2001 to 2018. He is considered to be one of the most successful cross-country cyclists of all time. Throughout his career, Absalon gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, five World Championships (2004–2007, 2014), seven UCI World Cup overall titles (2003, 2006–2009, 2014, 2016) and 33 World Cup rounds, which was an all-time record before being broken by Nino Schurter in 2023. He also won all fourteen French cross-country championships between 2003 and 2016, and five European Championships (2006, 2013–2016).
 Absalon at the Albstadt round of the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Julien Absalon |
| Born | 16 August 1980 Remiremont, France |
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 70 kg (154 lb) |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Mountain bike racing |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Cross-country |
| Amateur team | |
| 1996–2000 | Scott France |
| Professional teams | |
| 2001–2006 | Bianchi |
| 2007–2012 | Orbea |
| 2013–2018 | BMC Mountainbike Racing Team |
| Major wins | |
| |
Medal record | |
Career highlights
editSource:[1] 2003: Absalon won his first UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
2004: Gold at World Champions and the Athens Olympic Games.
2005: Absalon again won the World Championships.
2006: Winner at the World Championships, European Championships, French Championships and the overall World Cup.
2007: World Champion and World Cup Champion
2008: Won 2nd Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, World Cup Champion
2009: Number 1 World Ranking for all but 5 days of the year. Winner of UCI MTB World Cup for the 5th time, silver at the World Championships
2010: 2nd Overall at World Championships
2011: 3rd at the World Championships and World Cup
2012: At the 2012 Summer Olympics cross-country race, he suffered a tyre puncture in the opening lap. After changing tyre and noticing that he was trailing the leader by 55 seconds, he decided to abandon the race, seeing that his chances of winning a medal had disappeared.[2][3]
2013: Won European Championships
2014: Wins 5th World Championship title, French and European Championships. His season was cut short when, that November, he suffered a broken collarbone during a cyclocross race.
2015: Absalon wins the European Championships, French Championships, and finished second overall in the World Championships. Completed the season ranked world number 1.
2016: Finishes the Rio Olympic Games in 8th place.
Major results
edit- 1998
- 1st
Cross-country, UCI World Junior Championships
- 1st
Cross-country, UEC European Junior Championships
- 1st
Cross-country, National Junior Championships
- 1999
- 2nd
Cross-country, UEC European Under-23 Championships
- 2nd Cross-country, National Under-23 Championships
- 5th Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships
- 2000
- 2nd
Team relay, UCI World Championships
- 4th Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships
- 2001
- 1st
- UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Durango
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 2002
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 2nd
- 2003
- 1st
- 1st
Overall UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 3rd Kaprun
- 3rd Sankt Wendel
- 3rd Fort William
- 3rd Grouse Mountain
- 2nd
- 2004
- 1st
Cross-country, Olympic Games
- 1st
- 1st
- UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Schladming
- 3rd Houffalize
- 3rd Madrid
- 5th Cross-country, UEC European Championships
- 2005
- 1st
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Spa-Francorchamps
- 1st Madrid
- 3rd Willingen
- 2006
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st Spa-Francorchamps
- 1st Fort William
- 1st Madrid
- 2nd Curaçao
- 3rd Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 2007
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st Saint-Félicien
- 1st Offenburg
- 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 1st Champéry
- 2nd Houffalize
- 2nd
- 2008
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st Madrid
- 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 1st Houffalize
- 1st Offenburg
- 1st Bromont
- 2009
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st Madrid
- 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 1st Houffalize
- 1st Offenburg
- 2nd Champéry
- 2nd Pietermaritzburg
- 2nd
- 2010
- 1st
- 2nd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Offenburg
- 2nd Val di Sole
- 2nd Dalby Forest
- 5th Cross-country, UCI World Championships
- 2011
- 1st
- 2nd
- 3rd
Cross-country, UCI World Championships
- 3rd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Offenburg
- 2nd Pietermaritzburg
- 2nd Dalby Forest
- 3rd Nové Město
- 2012
- 1st
- UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Houffalize
- 1st La Bresse
- 4th Cross-country, UCI World Championships
- 4th Cross-country, UEC European Championships
- 2013
- 1st
- 1st
- 3rd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 2nd Nové Město
- 2nd Val di Sole
- 2014
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st Pietermaritzburg
- 1st Cairns
- 1st Albstadt
- 2nd Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 2nd Méribel
- 2nd Windham
- 2015
- 1st
- 1st
- 2nd
- 2nd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
- 1st Albstadt
- 2nd Val di Sole
- 2nd Windham
- 2nd Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 3rd Nové Město
- 2016
- 1st
Cross-country, UEC European Championships
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st La Bresse
- 1st Vallnord
- 1st Mont-Sainte-Anne
- 2nd Albstadt
- 2nd Lenzerheide
- 3rd Cairns
- 3rd
- 2017
- 2nd
- UCI XCO World Cup
- 3rd Nové Město
- 3rd Vallnord
- 2018
- 1st
- 2019
- 2nd Cross-country, National E-MTB Championships
- 3rd
References
edit- ^ "Julien Absalon - BMC Switzerland". www.bmc-switzerland.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
- ^ "Absalon crashes as Kulhavy wins Olympic mountain bike gold". Reuters. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ "2-time Olympic champ Absalon fails to finish after puncture in Olympic mountain bike race". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
External links
edit- Julien Absalon at Cycling Archives
- Julien Absalon at CycleBase
- Julien Absalon at MTB Data
- Julien Absalon at eWRC-results.com
- Julien Absalon at Olympics.com
- Official website in French
- Julien Absalon profile
- 2012 Olympic Games biography