Milan Vader

Milan Vader
Personal information
Born (1996-02-18) 18 February 1996 (age 28)
Middelburg, Netherlands
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight63 kg (139 lb)
Team information
Current teamVisma–Lease a Bike
Discipline
RoleRider
Professional teams
2018Habitat Mountain Bike Team
2019–2021KMC–Ekoi–Orbea[1][2]
2022–Team Jumbo–Visma
Major wins
Stage races
Tour of Guangxi (2023)
Medal record
Representing  Netherlands
Men's mountain bike racing
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Brno Cross-country

Milan Vader (born 18 February 1996) is a Dutch cross-country mountain biker and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Visma–Lease a Bike.[3]

Career

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Vader originally competed in cross-country mountain biking, where he was a two time elite national champion and a bronze medalist at the 2019 European Championships. In 2020, he finished second overall at the Olympic Cross-country World Cup, before going on to place 10th in the cross-country race at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[4]

In 2022, Vader joined Team Jumbo–Visma to focus on road racing.

On stage five of the 2022 Tour of the Basque Country, he suffered a terrible crash, having run into a guardrail during a descent, causing him to fall down a steep dropoff. He fractured his spine in 1 places, eight ribs as well as his shoulder, collarbone, eye socket, and cheekbone in addition to rupturing his carotid artery and perforating his lung. He was placed into an induced coma for 12 days.[5] After five months, Vader returned to racing in September at the CRO Race.

Despite this setback, Vader returned to form, finishing third overall in the Okolo Slovenska in September 2023.[5] A month later, he won the fourth stage of the Tour of Guangxi, his first professional road win, also taking the race lead in the process. He held onto the overall lead for the remainder of the race, winning the race by a margin of six seconds to Rémy Rochas.[6]

Major results

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Mountain bike

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2013
1st Cross-country, National Junior Championships
2014
2nd Cross-country, National Junior Championships
3rd Cross-country, UEC European Junior Championships
UCI Junior XCO World Cup
3rd Nové Město
4th Cross-country, UCI World Junior Championships
2015
1st Cross-country, National Under-23 Championships
2016
1st Cross-country, National Under-23 Championships
2017
5th Cross-country, UCI World Under-23 Championships
2019
1st Cross-country, National Championships
3rd Cross-country, UEC European Championships
2020
1st Cross-country, National Championships
French Cup
1st Alpe d'Huez
2nd Overall UCI XCO World Cup
2nd Nové Město II
3rd Nové Město I
Copa Catalana Internacional
2nd Barcelona
2021
UCI XCC World Cup
3rd Leogang
Internazionali d’Italia Series
3rd Andora

Road

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2023 (2 pro wins)
1st Overall Tour of Guangxi
1st Stage 4
3rd Overall Okolo Slovenska
1st Mountains classification

References

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  1. ^ "Interview with Milan Vader, the current number 3 in the UCI XCO ranking: "I haven't had a TV for 6 years"". Brujulabike.com. 8 November 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Milan Vader". UCI.org. Union Cycliste International. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Team Jumbo–Visma". UCI. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Race Analysis" (PDF). 2020 Summer Olympics. Omega SA. 26 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2021. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Milan Vader Tops Victory Podium 18 Months After Almost Losing His Life". velo.outsideonline.com. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  6. ^ Ryan, Barry (15 October 2023). "'I didn't know if I'd ride a bike again' – Milan Vader caps comeback with Guangxi win". Cycling News. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
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