Stuart O'Grady is an Australian cyclist, born 6 August, 1973 in Adelaide, South Australia.

Olympics

Stuart O'Grady successfully teamed with Graeme Brown to win a gold medal with 22 points in the Madison cycling event at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. (See Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics)

He has attended the three previous Olympics representing Australia:

• the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona where he won a silver medal in the Men's Team Pursuit (4000m).
• the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta he won a bronze medal in the Men's Point Race, and a bronze medal in the Men's Team Pursuit (4000m).
• the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney where he placed 77th in the road race and 10th in the points race.

Professional Career

Stuart O'Grady has participated in the Tour de France since 1998, racing for the Crédit Agricole team 1998-2003, and now the Cofidis team from 2004. He has worn the yellow jersey of the race leader in 1998 and 2001.

In 2001 he was in contention for the sprinters green jersey in competition with Erik Zabel from Germany, but was defeated on the final day's racing on points on the streets of Paris. He was again in contention in 2002. In 2003 and 2004 he has been overshadowed in this competition by fellow Australian sprinters Robbie McEwen (2004) and Baden Cooke (2003). In 1998 he was second overall in the Green jersey sprinters classification.

Tour De France Career Highlights include:

• 2004 Tour de France: 1st- Stage 5; 2nd - Stage 6; 3rd - Stage 9
• 2003 Tour de France: 1st - centenary classification; 6th - stage 11, 20; 8th - stage 2, 5; 10th - stage 3, 16; 7th - points classification
• 2002 Tour de France: 3rd - stage 10; 3rd - sprint classification (green jersey); 6th - stages 1, 7, 20; 8th - stage 5; 10th - stage 2, 3.
• 2001 Tour de France: 1st - team time trial stage 4, yellow jersey holder for 6 days.
• 1998 Tour de France: three stages in the leaders yellow jersey (maillot jaune) and then won his first Tour stage (from Valreas to Grenoble). He eventually finished 54th overall and second in the Green jersey sprinters classification.

Other Cycling Highlights

• 2004 : 1st Hew Cup, 1st GP de Villers-Cotterets
• 2003 : Etoile de Bessèges (Pos:10 - Time:10'06"); Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne (Pos:4 ); Tirreno-Adriatico (Pos:5 - Time:21"); Milan-San Remo (Pos:3); A travers le Morbihan (Pos:5 ); GP de Villers-Cotterets (Pos:1 - Time:4h16'38"); Hew Cup (Pos:1 - Time:5h51'39"); Tour du Danemark (Pos:3 - Time:49"); Jeux Olympiques (Pos:33 - Time:12")
• 2002 Commonwealth Games at Manchester: 1st - road race
• 2002 Road Cycling World Titles : 13th - road race
• 1995 world champion in the team pursuit.
• 1994 Commonwealth Games won two golds, one silver and one bronze.
• 1994 bronze medalist at the World titles in the team pursuit.
• 1993 breaking the world record in the teams pursuit.

Biography

Born into a cycling family, Stuart O'Grady's father represented South Australia several times in road and track cycling and his uncle competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for Australia. Nicknamed Stuey, he started his career in track cycling and most notably won a silver medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona in the Men's Team Pursuit (4000m), and in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta he won a bronze medal in the Men's Point Race, and a bronze medal in the Men's Team Pursuit (4000m).

When it was time to turn professional, he joined the GAN team (now Credit Agricole), which at the time included British time-trial specialist Chris Boardman. "I talked to Motorola, Polti and GAN, and everybody was pushing me towards Polti. Then one day I saw (Chris) Boardman being helped by a GAN mechanic and soigneur but didn't see any Polti mechanics or Motorola staff around at all. It really wasn't a hard decision after that." he commented on his choice of team.

Stuart O'Grady was named Australian Cyclist of the Year and Australian Male Road Cyclist of the Year in 1998 and 2001. In the 1998 Tour de France he was in the Yellow jersey for three days, and again in 2001 for five days. He has won several stages in the Tour de France, the last one being the fifth stage of the 2004 Tour De France.

In 2001 he was diagnosed with a block artery, after early tests established that his right leg produced more power than his left leg. After a surgery in the April of 2002 he started a new rehabilitation program to get back into racing form by the summer.

He moved from the Credit Agricole team to the Cofidis team in 2004, and after a near-disastrous start to the season fraud with injuries and doping allegations in his team, he made a comeback by winning two stages in the Dauphine Libere race and winning the points classification in the same race. He continued with a stage win in the Tour de France, a few days in the green jersey, and a victory in the World Cup Race HEW Cyclassics. He topped his list of victories by winning an olympic gold medal in the Madison cycling with Graeme Brown.

External Links

Stuart O'Grady website