Robert Gesink

Robert Gesink (born 31 May 1986) is a Dutch professional cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam.

At the Junior World Championships of 2004 UCI Road World Championships in Verona, Gesink finished eighth in the individual time trial and sixth in the road race, while riding for team De Peddelaars in Aalten.

After this rather successful WC he went to team Lowik-Van Losser for one year.

He joined the Continental team in 2006.

He finished third overall in Volta ao Algarve and won the overall classification and the third stage of Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda.

He later won a stage and the overall classification of the Circuito Montañés and finished second in the prestigious Tour de l'Avenir.

Gesink initially signed a two-year deal with Rabobank Continental but team manager Theo de Rooij decided to move him to the team for the 2007 season.

In his first year as professional cyclist, Gesink won the young riders jersey in the Tour of California.

He finished 9th in his first UCI ProTour race ever, in La Flèche Wallonne.

After riding another top 15 in the Tour de Romandie won by his teammate Thomas Dekker, he won his first race as professional at the queen stage in the Tour of Belgium riding away from everyone on Côte de La Redoute.

The next year, he finished just outside the top ten in the Clásica de San Sebastián, fifth in the Deutschland Tour, and second in the Tour de Pologne.

He subsequently got selected for the UCI Road World Championships in Stuttgart.

In the Giro di Lombardia he finished fifteenth.

In his 2nd year as professional, in 2008, he showed progression by winning the hardest stage in the Tour of California, where Gesink rode away on the final climb, with only Levi Leipheimer holding his wheel.

They stayed ahead on the final 35 km of downhill and flat and Leipheimer did not contest Gesink in the sprint.

Gesink won the young riders jersey again and finished 9th in the general classification.

In the Paris–Nice he finished second in the stage up to Mont Serein, 5 km before the top of Mont Ventoux, where he was outsprinted by Cadel Evans.

He then lost the leader's jersey in the penultimate stage to Cannes, when he got isolated on the Col du Tanneron which, together with Gesink's overly careful descent, allowed Davide Rebellin to take the leader's jersey.

He finished fourth in the overall classification, 51 seconds behind Rebellin, which won Gesink the youth classification.

He also finished twelfth in the Tour of the Basque Country and completed a successful Ardennes classics by finishing fourth in La Flèche Wallonne.

In September, he then finished seventh in his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España.

In 2009, Gesink finished fourth overall in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.

He started his first Tour de France but broke his wrist during a crash on stage 5.

He completed the stage, but had to withdraw from the Tour due to his injuries.

He recovered in time to enter into the Vuelta a España.

He finished the Vuelta a España in 6th place; he was in 2nd place, but due to a fall where he sustained deep cuts in his knee, he was too injured to keep up in the final mountain stage.

Afterwards Gesink focused on regaining his form for the World Championships in Mendrisio, but he had not recovered fast enough and finished off the pace.

However, a week later he was back to his old self and took the victory in the Giro dell'Emilia, beating Jakob Fuglsang and Thomas Löfkvist to the line in an uphill sprint.

He also took 6th place in the Giro di Lombardia and finished the season as 10th on the UCI World Ranking.

Gesink's schedule for 2010 was about the same as that of 2009, only this time he did manage to get a good result in the Tirreno–Adriatico (fifth).

Due to the absence of, among others, Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans, he started as one of the favorites for the Tour of the Basque Country.

He impressed during the most important stage, was in the top 3 and even had a chance at winning the tour, when in stage 5 he fell once again.

Eventually he finished 9th and seemed to have the form he needed for the Classics.

In the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège he had disappointing races and could not compete for the victories.

After that he went to altitude training in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

He did not compete in any events for a while, while focusing on the Tour de France.

His form showed during the Tour de Suisse, where he was victorious in the most difficult stage.

His major victories include the 2012 Tour of California, the 2011 Tour of Oman and the 2010 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.

Gesink also won the Giro dell'Emilia twice and offered some good performances on Grand Tours and one-week stage races, thanks in part to his climbing and time trialing abilities.

Gesink was born in Varsseveld.