Michael Mørkøv Christensen[1] (Danish pronunciation: [ˈmiˌkʰɛˀl ˈmɶɐ̯kʰøw]; born 30 April 1985) is a Danish professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Astana Qazaqstan Team.[7] He is the brother of racing cyclists Jacob and Jesper Mørkøv.[8]
_(1)_-_UCI_Track_World_Championships_2020.jpg)
Career
editBorn in Kokkedal, Mørkøv started as a track cyclist, becoming national champion in the points race in 2004. In the 2008 Olympic games, he won the silver medal in the team pursuit.
As a road cyclist, Mørkøv became national time trial champion in 2005. Mørkøv rode the 2010 and 2011 Giro d'Italia, finishing both. Mørkøv rode his first Tour de France in 2012, drawing attention by featuring in the most important escapes of the first three stages, where he gained enough points to lead the mountains classification. He held polka-dot jersey until stage 7, where stage winner Chris Froome took it.[9]
In 2013, he won Stage 6 in the Vuelta a España.
In August 2015, it was announced that Mørkøv would join Team Katusha for the 2016 season, at the request of Alexander Kristoff, with a view to working for Kristoff as part of his sprint train and as a domestique in the classics.[10]
Mørkøv joined the Belgian Quick Step team in 2018 and since then has acted as a successful lead-out man for Sam Bennett and then, as a late replacement for Bennett as the team's sprinter for the 2021 Tour de France, Mark Cavendish.[11] Mørkøv has been highly praised; Cavendish said “It’s a known fact Michael is the best leadout man in the world"[11] and retired sprinter Marcel Kittel said "Many sprinters would win with him as the last man on the sprint train".[11]
In 2021 when the Madison track race was reinstated into the Olympic Games of Tokyo 2020, Mørkøv won the gold medal (partnered with Lasse Norman Hansen)
Major results
editRoad
edit- 2004
- 3rd Speditørløbet
- 2005
- 1st
Team time trial, National Championships - 2006
- 1st Post Cuppen Skive
- 2nd Team time trial, National Championships
- 4th Rund um den Elm
- 2007
- 2nd Ronde Van Vlaanderen Beloften
- 2008
- 1st Midt Data Løbet
- 1st Team time trial, National Championships
- 1st Stage 2 Giro del Capo
- 2nd Speditørløbet
- 2nd Duo Normand
- 9th GP Nordjylland
- 2009
- 7th Châteauroux Classic
- 2010
- 1st Herlev-løbet
- 3rd Time trial, National Championships
- 4th Overall Tour du Limousin
- 2011
- 1st Fyen Rundt
- 3rd Overall Danmark Rundt
- 8th GP Herning
- 10th Himmerland Rundt
- 2012
- 3rd Time trial, National Championships
- 4th Overall Post Cuppen
- 1st Roskilde
- 1st Ringsted
- Tour de France
- Held
after Stages 1–6 
Combativity award Stage 3 & 13
- Held
- 2013 (2 pro wins)
- 1st Road race, National Championships
- 1st Stage 6 Vuelta a España
- 2nd Paris–Tours
- 4th Overall Tour de l'Eurométropole
- 2014
- 3rd Road race, National Championships
- 3rd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
- 5th Overall Tour of Qatar
- 2015 (1)
- 1st Stage 6 Danmark Rundt
- 2016
- 10th Gent–Wevelgem
- 2018 (1)
- 1st Road race, National Championships
- 2nd Fyen Rundt
- 2019 (1)
- 1st Road race, National Championships
- 3rd London–Surrey Classic
- 5th Road race, UEC European Championships
- 7th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
- 2020
- 3rd Road race, National Championships
- 5th Race Torquay
- 2021
- 5th Elfstedenronde
- 8th Classic Brugge–De Panne
- 2022
- 7th Milano–Torino
- 2023
- 9th Elfstedenronde
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
edit| Grand Tour | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia
|
129 | 156 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 107 | — | — | — | DNF | — | — |
 Tour de France
|
— | — | 93 | — | 134 | — | DNF | — | — | 152 | 130 | 138 | DNF | 150 | DNF |
 Vuelta a España
|
— | — | — | 128 | — | — | — | 137 | 148 | — | 121 | — | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
Track
edit- 2001
- 3rd Team pursuit, National Junior Championships
- 2002
- National Junior Championships
- 2nd Individual pursuit
- 2nd Team pursuit
- 2003
- National Junior Championships
- 1st Points race
- 2nd Team pursuit
- 1st
- 2nd Team pursuit, National Championships
- 2004
- National Championships
- 1st Points race
- 2nd Team pursuit
- 1st
- 3rd UIV Cup München
- 2005
- 1st
Madison, UEC European Under-23 Championships (with Alex Rasmussen) - 1st Overall UIV Cup
- 1st Stuttgart
- 1st Berlin
- 1st Amsterdam
- 2nd Copenhagen
- 3rd Bremen
- 2nd Madison, UCI World Cup, Sydney (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Madison, National Championships (with Marc Hester)
- 2006
- National Championships
- 1st Madison (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Points race
- 3rd Team pursuit
- 3rd Scratch
- 1st
- UCI World Cup
- 1st Madison, Sydney (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Team pursuit, Sydney
- 2nd Madison, Sydney (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Team pursuit, Sydney
- 3rd Madison, Moscow (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Omnium, Danmarksturneringen i Banecykling
- 2nd Six Days of Grenoble (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 3rd
Points race, UEC European Under-23 Championships - 2007
- National Championships
- 1st Madison (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Points race
- 3rd Team pursuit
- 1st
- UCI World Cup
- 1st Madison, Los Angeles (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Team pursuit Los Angeles
- 3rd Madison, Sydney (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Six Days of Grenoble (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 3rd
Team pursuit, UCI World Championships - 3rd Six Days of Zürich (with Danny Stam)
- 2008
- National Championships
- 1st Madison (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Team pursuit
- 1st Scratch
- 1st Points race
- 1st
- UCI World Cup
- 1st Madison, Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Madison, Los Angeles (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Team pursuit, Copenhagen
- 2nd Team pursuit, Los Angeles
- 2nd
Team pursuit, Olympic Games - 2nd Six Days of Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 3rd Madison, UCI World Championships (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2009
- 1st
Madison, UCI World Championships (with Alex Rasmussen) - 1st Madison, National Championships (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Six Days of Munich (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2010
- 1st Madison, National Championships (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Six Days of Berlin (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 3rd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 3rd Six Days of Ghent (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2011
- National Championships
- 1st Madison (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 1st Omnium
- 1st
- 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd
Team pursuit, UEC European Championships - 3rd Six Days of Berlin (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2012
- 1st Six Days of Amsterdam (with Pim Ligthart)
- 2nd Six Days of Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2013
- 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Lasse Norman Hansen)
- 2014
- 2nd Six Days of Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 3rd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2015
- 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Iljo Keisse)
- 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2nd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Alex Rasmussen)
- 2017
- 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Lasse Norman Hansen)
- 2nd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Lasse Norman Hansen)
- 2018
- 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Kenny De Ketele)
- 2019
- 1st
Madison, UEC European Championships (with Lasse Norman Hansen) - 2020
- 1st
Madison, UCI World Championships (with Lasse Norman Hansen) - 2021
- 1st
Madison, Olympic Games (with Lasse Norman Hansen) - 1st Madison, UCI World Championships (with Lasse Norman Hansen)
- 2024
- 3rd
Madison, Olympic Games (with Niklas Larsen) - 3rd Madison, UCI World Championships (with Niklas Larsen)
- 3rd Madison, UEC European Championships (with Theodor Storm)
References
edit- ^ a b Brown, Gregor (5 November 2010). "Rasmussen to join Saxo Bank, a Danish dream?". Cycling Weekly. IPC Media Limited. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
- ^ a b "Michael Mørkøv, Deceuninck – Quick-Step Cycling team". Retrieved 15 July 2019.
- ^ "Team Saxo-Tinkoff (TST) – DEN". UCI World Tour. Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
- ^ "Morkov signs two-year contract with Quick-Step Floors". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ Ryan, Barry (31 December 2019). "2020 Team Preview: Deceuninck-QuickStep". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
- ^ "Deceuninck - Quick-Step". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ "Astana Qazaqstan Team". UCI. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
- ^ Jacobsen, Mogens (3 February 2015). "Alle tre Mørkøv-brødre står på spring til podiet" [All three Mørkøv brothers poised for the podium]. Politiken (in Danish). Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- ^ Westemeyer, Susan (7 July 2012). "Froome leads double Sky success on La Planche des Belles Filles". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ "Mørkøv signs for Katusha at the request of Kristoff". cyclingnews.com. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
- ^ a b c "Michael Mørkøv: The man making Tour de France history with Mark Cavendish". 10 July 2021.
External links
edit
- Michael Mørkøv at Cycling Archives (archived)
- Michael Mørkøv at ProCyclingStats
- Michael Mørkøv at Olympedia (archive)
